Exports growth slowed to +5.0% YoY in Jul (Jun: +27.2% YoY), falling short of market expectations (+9.9% YoY). Growth was mostly contributed by petroleum products, palm oil and chemical products. Meanwhile, imports moderated to +24.0% YoY (Jun: +32.1% YoY) amid slowdown in consumption imports. Trade surplus narrowed to RM13.7bn (Jun: RM22.2bn).
DATA HIGHLIGHTS
Exports growth slowed in Jul to +5.0% YoY (Jun: +27.2% YoY), falling short of market expectations (+9.9% YoY). Imports moderated to +24.0% YoY (Jun: +32.1% YoY). On a monthly basis, exports shrank -7.7% (Jun: +14.3%) while imports only grew marginally (+0.5%; Jun: +5.9%). Consequently, trade surplus narrowed to RM13.7bn (Jun: RM22.2bn).
Exports growth to all major markets weakened. ASEAN remained the largest contributor to growth (+2.2ppt, +7.9% YoY; Jun: +22.7% YoY), owing to higher exports of petroleum products. Exports to Japan (+11.4% YoY; Jun: +17.9% YoY) and EU (+2.4% YoY; Jun: +24.1% YoY) slowed, while a decline in exports was recorded to China (-8.1% YoY; Jun: +18.5% YoY) and US (-1.1% YoY; Jun: +32.1% YoY).
Overall growth was supported by commodity-related exports (+43.1% YoY; Jun: +78.9% YoY), which contributed +8.7ppt to growth. This was led by petroleum products (+72.7% YoY; Jun: +113.6% YoY), followed by palm oil products (+41.2% YoY; Jun: +51.0% YoY) and LNG (+69.9% YoY; Jun: +12.4% YoY). Exports of rubber products decelerated sharply (+13.3% YoY; Jun: +103.5% YoY), which could be attributed to the temporary closure of glove factories during EMCO in Jul. Meanwhile, crude petroleum exports decreased by -6.8% YoY (Jun: +109.5% YoY).
Manufactured exports negatively contributed to growth for the first time since May 2020 (-3.6ppt, -4.6% YoY; Jun: +15.1% YoY), possibly due to the workforce limitations imposed on essential manufacturing industries that could operate. While chemical products (+40.3% YoY; Jun: +53.3% YoY) and metals (+19.6% YoY; Jun: +34.0% YoY) continued to expand, E&E exports declined by -12.1% YoY (Jun: +14.1% YoY). Despite this, other indicators such as semiconductor equipment billings (+49.8% YoY; Jun: +59.2% YoY) suggests the electronics industry trend remains robust. Optical & scientific equipment (-9.7% YoY; Jun: +7.6% YoY) and machinery, equipment & parts (-8.8% YoY; Jun: -1.5% YoY) also declined.
Meanwhile, imports moderated to +24.0% YoY (Jun: +32.1% YoY) as the slowdown in consumption imports (+1.3% YoY; Jun: +19.3% YoY) offset the rise in intermediate (+42.7% YoY; Jun: +25.3% YoY) and capital imports (+25.6% YoY; Jun: +14.9% YoY).
The latest World Trade Organization (WTO) goods trade barometer posted in Aug rose to 110.4 (May: 109.7). Although still above trend (100), the index has risen at a decreasing rate following the slowing of its export orders index component, while other components (air freight, container shipping, raw materials) showed above-trend growth. This suggests that global goods trade may be reaching its peak, as the outlook continues to be clouded by regional disparities, in terms of pace of recovery and vaccination timetables. In Malaysia, while over 50% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated, the still-high Covid case count and deaths could delay the reopening timeline.
Source: Hong Leong Investment Bank Research - 30 Aug 2021
Wikipedia—
Leap Year (2010) Plot:
Successful real estate stager Anna Brady is frustrated that her cardiologist boyfriend Jeremy Sloane still has not proposed to her after four years. She decides to travel from Boston to Dublin, to propose to him on February 29, leap day, while he is there at a conference. Anna wishes to invoke an Irish tradition, Bachelor's Day, that a man who is proposed to on leap day must accept the proposal.
During the flight, a storm diverts the plane to Cardiff, Wales. Anna hires a boat to take her west to Cork. The severity of the storm forces her to be put ashore at a small seaside village called Dingle. Anna requests Declan O'Callaghan, a surly Irish innkeeper, to taxi her to Dublin. At first he refuses, but after his tavern is threatened with foreclosure, he agrees to drive her for €500. Along the way, he mocks her belief in a leap year tradition of women proposing to men.
A herd of cows blocks the road. Anna steps in cow dung while attempting to move the animals, and tries to clean her shoes while leaning on Declan's car, which causes it to roll downhill into a stream. Continuing on foot, Anna flags down a van with three travellers who offer her a lift. Ignoring Declan's warning, Anna hands them her luggage. They drive off without her. Anna and Declan make their way on foot to a roadside pub, where they discover the three thieves going through Anna's luggage. Declan fights them and retrieves Anna's bag.
While waiting for a train, they ask each other what they would grab if their homes were on fire and they had only 60 seconds to flee. They lose track of time and miss the train. They are forced to stay at a bed & breakfast in Tipperary, where they pretend to be married so that their conservative hosts will allow them to stay. During dinner, when other couples kiss to show their love for each other, Anna and Declan are "forced" to kiss as well. This stirs feelings that neither had expected. They sleep in the same bed, but do not admit their new feelings for each other.
While hitchhiking, Anna and Declan are caught in a hailstorm and take shelter in a nearby church, where a wedding is taking place. They are invited to the reception, where Anna gets drunk. Anna questions her own intentions with Jeremy and realizes that she has feelings for Declan. Just as the two are about to kiss, Anna vomits and passes out. The following day they arrive in Dublin. Declan reveals he was once engaged but his fiancée ran off to Dublin with his mother's claddagh ring and his best friend. Anna suggests that while in Dublin, he should ask for his mother's ring back. When they arrive at the hotel where Jeremy is staying, Jeremy surprises Anna by proposing to her right in the lobby. Seeing that Declan had already walked out of the hotel, she accepts Jeremy's proposal.
At their engagement party in Boston, Anna learns that Jeremy proposed because he thought it was the only way to appease the co-op board of the apartment building the couple wanted to move into. Dismayed, Anna pulls the fire alarm and waits, testing the 60-second concept she discussed with Declan earlier. Jeremy retrieves all of their electronic materials and neglects to check for Anna. Anna realizes there is nothing in the apartment that means anything to her, including Jeremy. Meanwhile, in Dublin, Declan retrieves his mother's claddagh ring from his ex-fiancée.
Anna returns to the tavern in Dingle, where Declan has pulled together the balance he owed his property owner with the help of the community. She tells him she has broken off her engagement and proposes that they get together, and not make plans. Declan leaves. Thinking she has been rejected, Anna rushes outside to the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. Declan emerges, revealing that he went out to retrieve his mother's claddagh ring. Declan says he wants to make plans with her, and proposes on the cliffside. Anna happily accepts. They drive away in Declan's car, leaving their destination open to fate.
2021-08-30 12:48
The Protégé (2021):
Anna is an assassin raised by Moody after he discovered her in the aftermath of a massacre in Da Nang, where she killed four men who had kidnapped her and murdered her family. For years, they traversed the globe and completed high-profile contracts—settling in England where she runs a rare-book store and he lives in a manor house.[2] She first encounters Rembrandt in her store when he comes in on the pretext of buying a gift.
At present, Anna and Moody kill a Romanian mafia boss by taking his son hostage and using him as a bait. After Moody is brutally killed, Anna decides to seek vengeance. She believes that their last assassination target, Edward Hayes is involved. She therefore decides to track him down in Vietnam. While there she learns of Vohl -- Edward Hayes' assistant. She sets a meeting with Vohl, but Duquet kills him, preventing Vohl from divulging any information to Anna. Anna attacks Duquet, and is captured after a chase. Duquet tortures her to see why she is after Edward`s son. Rembrandt visits Anna in the cell and says that he, like Duquet, works for the same person, but says that his methods are apart from them and he was not involved with the shooting in the library. After Duquet leaves the gang goes to her cell and tries to hang her, but she defeats them and escapes. Rembrandt then blames Duquet and his harsh methods for her escape.
After a dinner date between Rembrandt and Anna, Rembrandt gets into a street fight with local thugs hired by Duquet but survives. Meanwhile, Anna kills Duquet. Rembrandt arrives and sees Duquet was hung. Unaware of Anna, she ambushes him and fights with him, but in the end, they decide to have sex. While walking in the street, Anna is then shot by one of Edward's men but is rescued by Moody, who appears to be alive. Moody reveals to her that he faked his death by disguising his attempted killer as himself and shot his attacker in the face so that he could not be identified.
Edward holds a banquet and takes extreme precautions to prevent any intrusion. Anna disguises herself as a waitress, and when she tries to assassinate Edward is detected and hampered by Rembrandt. Anna escapes during the ensuing chaos, but Rembrandt follows her. Moody meanwhile infiltrates Edward's safe-house bunker. Edward reveals that he faked his death to protect his son but Moody is not persuaded because of his misdeed. Anna escapes the banquet after Moody detonates a bomb, killing both himself and Edward.
In a flashback, Anna witnesses her mother beheading, and is then captured and taken by a gang to the location shown at the beginning of the film. The gang's leader assembles one of two disassembled pistols lying on a table while young Anna watches, memorising the steps. The mob leader briefly leaves the room. When he returns Anna kills the entire mob after assembling the second pistol.
The film returns to Rembrandt, who receives a text message from Anna. He goes to the coordinates given in the text message, and finds Anna. They aim their guns at each other and two shots are heard; Anna can be seen leaving the place.
2021-08-30 12:52
The Suicide Squad (2021)
Plot
Intelligence officer Amanda Waller assembles two Task Force X teams—colloquially known as the Suicide Squad—that comprise Belle Reve penitentiary inmates, who agree to carry out missions for Waller in exchange for lighter sentences. They are sent to the South American island nation of Corto Maltese after its government is overthrown by an anti-American regime, and are tasked with destroying the Nazi-era laboratory Jötunheim which holds a secretive experiment known as "Project Starfish". One team is led by Waller's subordinate Colonel Rick Flag, who are almost entirely wiped out by the Corto Maltese military upon landing. This distraction allows the other team to enter the country undetected. The second team is led by assassin Bloodsport, who accepted the mission in order to prevent his daughter from being incarcerated at Belle Reve, and consists of Peacemaker, King Shark, Polka-Dot Man, and Ratcatcher 2. They find Flag at a base camp for rebel soldiers and convince rebellion leader Sol Soria to assist them.
Harley Quinn survives the attack on the first team and is taken captive by the Corto Maltese government. She learns of the new regime's plans to use Project Starfish against other nations. In the Corto Maltese capital, the second team captures the Thinker, the lead scientist in charge of Project Starfish. Harley escapes and joins the others, who use the Thinker to break into Jötunheim. Most of the Squad rigs the facility with explosives as Flag and Ratcatcher 2 enter the underground laboratory with the Thinker. He reveals that Project Starfish is Starro the Conqueror, a giant alien starfish that creates smaller versions of itself to kill people and take control of their bodies. Starro was brought to Earth by the U.S. government, who have been secretly funding experiments on him in Corto Maltese for the past thirty years using thousands of the island's citizens as test subjects. An enraged Flag decides to leak a hard drive containing evidence of this revelation, but is killed by Peacemaker who is under secret orders from Waller to cover up the U.S.'s involvement in the experiments. Meanwhile, a skirmish between the Squad and the Corto Maltese military leads to Polka-Dot Man accidentally setting off the explosives prematurely. As the facility falls apart, Peacemaker attempts to execute Ratcatcher 2 for knowing the truth about Starro, but Bloodsport shoots him and takes the drive.
Starro escapes the destroyed laboratory, kills the Thinker and much of the military, and begins taking control of the island's population. Waller tells the Squad that their mission is complete now that Jötunheim is destroyed, but Bloodsport chooses to ignore her and leads his teammates in battling Starro. Waller attempts to execute the Squad for this but is incapacitated by her subordinates. During the battle, Polka-Dot Man is killed, Harley pierces a hole in Starro's eye, and Ratcatcher 2 summons the city's rats to chew the alien to death from the inside. With the military diverted, Soria takes control of the government and pledges democratic elections. Bloodsport forces Waller to release him and his surviving teammates from their imprisonment in exchange for keeping the contents of the drive confidential, and the Squad are airlifted out of Corto Maltese.
In a post-credits scene, Peacemaker is shown to be alive and under the supervision of Waller's subordinates.
2021-08-30 16:42
The Kissing Booth 3 is a 2021 American teen romantic comedy film
After going on a road trip post-graduation, Elle still hasn't made her mind up about whether to go to Berkeley or Harvard – although Noah is already planning to get an apartment off-campus for the two of them. When Noah and Lee's parents announce they're selling the beach house where they all spent their childhoods, Elle, Noah, Lee and Lee's girlfriend, Rachel, offer to spend the summer there to help out with the sale. Lee shows Rachel his plans for them to see each other on holidays while going to colleges across the country from each other, while Elle is suddenly faced with a deadline by Berkeley. She chooses to go to Harvard with Noah which upsets Lee, but Elle promises to make it up to him by spending the summer doing their beach bucket list of various activities.
Noah's friend Chloe – who Elle once thought Noah was having an affair with – arrives at the beach house while Marco – who Elle kissed – gets a job in the area. During a day at the waterpark, Noah and Marco clash, prompting Noah to call out Elle for not realizing Marco still has feelings for her. Tensions escalate when Elle struggles to divide her time between Lee and Noah. At the same time Elle grapples with accepting her father's new girlfriend, Linda. Encouraged by Chloe, who is coping with her parents' divorce, to talk to Elle, Noah makes up with Elle. Marco shows up to the Fourth of July party where he again fights with Noah and punches him, but Noah refuses to retaliate. Marco admits to Elle that he does still have feelings for her, but she rejects him. That night, Elle fights with her father over Linda.
Unaware that Noah saw her acceptance letter to Berkeley, Elle goes to find him at their spot. Worried that she's only going to Harvard for him and that she will regret it, Noah breaks up with Elle. Heartbroken, Elle misses a bucket list with Lee to play Dance Dance Revolution. They argue as Lee tells her that he's never mattered to Elle compared to Noah, while she tells him to grow up and that all of her decisions this summer have been about trying to make everybody happy. Noah and Lee's mother tells Elle that she should start thinking about "what it is that you want to do" and choose a college based on that. Having seen the issues that Elle and Noah's relationship had, Rachel breaks up with Lee, though she hopes they will someday reunite.
Elle eventually understands and accepts Linda, reconciling with her father. Marco apologizes to Elle and they say their farewells amicably, before Elle makes up with Lee and tells him that she's realized that she's spent so long maintaining her relationships with Noah and Lee that she hasn't worked out what makes her happy. Elle decides to apply to University of Southern California and study game design. Inspired by Elle, Noah and Lee's mom decides not to sell the beach house.
Six years later, Elle is developing her own game. She and Lee remain close friends, together visiting the fated Kissing Booth at the Charity Fair. Additionally, Lee and Rachel reunited with each other and got engaged after college. Sometime later, Elle sees Noah for (presumably) the first time since their breakup, where he reveals he has job offers at law firms in Los Angeles and New York. Noah suggests going on a motorcycle ride when he's back in town and Elle agrees. They part ways, but not before looking back each other.
Elle and Noah are seen riding down the coastline in California on their motorcycles, laughing and having fun.
2021-08-30 16:51
Zuliana
The Protege (2021)
Plot Summary:
Rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody, Anna is the world's most skilled contract killer. However, when Moody is brutally killed, she vows revenge for the man who taught her everything she knows.
—Khalid A.
2021-08-30 12:42