Malaysia

Petronas to Delay RAPID'S Refinery Start-Up to Mid-2019. Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas company Petronas is delaying the start-up of its $16 billion RAPID refining and petrochemical complex in the southern state of Johor until mid-2019, pushing it back from early that year, its top executive said on Monday. "For the refinery, the start up will be middle of 2019. That is the current schedule," President and Group Chief Executive Officer Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said on the sidelines of the Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur. The slide in oil prices over the past year forced Petronas to review and re-bid some of its engineering, procurement and construction contracts (EPC), Wan Zulkiflee said. (Reuters)

Customs Department Collects RM15.14 Billion in Taxes Nationwide. The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD) collected RM15.140 billion in taxes, nationwide, between January and May 17, 2015. Customs Director-General Datuk Seri Khazali Ahmad said this amounted to 33.31 per cent of the overall target collection of RM45.441 billion set for the year. He said to date, 377,157 companies had registered for the Goods and Services Tax. (Bernama)

Sarawak's Logs, Timber Products Export Dips 7% in Q1. Sarawak's logs and timber products export for the first quarter of this year dropped 7% to RM1.65 billion compared with the corresponding quarter last year. Plywood remained the state's major contributor and accounted for 55 per cent or RM915 million of the total export value. This was followed by logs at 26 per cent or RM424 million and sawn timber at eight per cent or RM138 million. (Bernama)

Asia

Thailand’s GDP Growth Slowed in Q1 on Exports Decline. Thailand’s economy barely grew last quarter as rising government spending failed to counter falling exports and weakening local demand. The outlook for the rest of the year isn’t that much better. GDP rose 0.3% in the three months through March from the previous quarter, the National Economic and Social Development Board said in Bangkok Monday. The median estimate in a survey was for a 0.6% contraction. GDP grew 3% from a year earlier, compared with a prediction of a 3.4% gain. The agency today cut its forecasts for economic expansion and exports growth this year, and said the second quarter should be better than the first. (Reuters)

China Approves $40 Billion of Rail, Subway Projects to Bolster Economy. China has approved close to 250 billion yuan ($40.30 billion) of railway and subway projects, the country's top economic planner said on Monday, as Beijing ramps up efforts to support growth amid a wider slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on its website it had given the green light to six projects, including a 46.7 billion yuan subway system in Chengdu. The others include a 60 billion yuan railway line and two new rail connections to the existing Beijing-Shenyang high-speed railway, which together will cost 42.5 billion yuan. The acceleration in project approvals coincides with a 33.2% jump in fiscal spending in April. (Reuters)

Zeti: China Not a Destabilising Force in Asean. China will not be the destabilising force of Asean economy despite an anticipated slowdown in the world's second largest economy. Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said she remained optimistic of China's economic prospect following fiscal and monetary policies it has in place to provide a buffer to its economy. "Part of the slowdown in China was self-induced because they were in excesses. However, I do believe that China has the policies to reign in these excesses, including reforms to address its shadow banking," she said at the "Economic and Political Scenarios" session at the 18th Asia Oil and Gas Conference 2015 here today. (Bernama)

USA

Home Builder Sentiment Slips in May. U.S. homebuilder sentiment fell in May but still showed more builders view market conditions as favorable, the National Association of Home Builders said on Monday. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index fell to 54 from 56 the month before, the group said in a statement. Economists had predicted the index would rise to 57. Readings above 50 indicate more builders view market conditions as favorable than poor. The index has not been below 50 since June 2014. "Consumers are exhibiting caution, and want to be on more stable financial footing before purchasing a home," NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe said in a statement. (Reuters)

Weak First-Quarter Growth Due to Seasonal Issues After All, SF Fed Says. The storm over the weather’s role in a cloudy U.S. economy is lingering. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco argue in a new paper that issues with seasonal adjustments in the official growth statistics are depressing winter figures. The San Francisco findings contrast with those of Fed board economists in a research note last week. “The official estimate of real growth for the first three months of 2015 was shockingly weak. However, such estimates in the past appear to have understated first-quarter growth fairly consistently, even though they are adjusted to try to account for seasonal patterns,” write San Francisco Fed research director Glenn Rudebusch and two co-authors in the regional central bank’s weekly Economic Letter. “Applying a second round of seasonal adjustment corrects this residual seasonality.´ (Reuters)

Currencies

Dollar Pushes Higher, Eyes on Inflation Data. The dollar clawed its way higher on Monday, recovering from almost four-month lows reached late last week on another surprisingly bad round of U.S. economic data. Against the euro, it was up as much as half a percent, taking back some of the past month's hefty losses. Strategists said country-specific factors allied to rising U.S. bond yields had helped deepen a correction that started late in the European afternoon on Friday. By 0740 GMT the euro had fallen to $1.1391, down half a percent on the day compared to a Friday peak of $1.1468. Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar index added about 0.3% to 93.230, after posting its fifth straight weekly decline. It had reached 92.133 on Thursday. (Reuters)

Commodities

Oil Down as Firmer Dollar, Ample Supplies Offset Mideast Turmoil. Oil slipped on Monday as a rallying dollar and concerns of growing oversupply weighed on the market after Saudi Arabia reported its highest crude exports in nearly a decade. Crude oil futures erased early gains of more than $1 a barrel on worries of turmoil in the Middle East after a major advance by Islamic State militants in Iraq and renewed air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition against Houthi militia in Yemen. Oil was also weighed down by data showing that Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports rose in March to the highest levels since November 2005, analysts said. Brent crude, the more widely used benchmark, settled 54 cents lower at $66.27, after hitting a high of $67.88. U.S. crude futures ended down 26 cents at $59.43 a barrel. (Reuters)

$100 Oil Seen Years Away by Petronas as Shale Output Resilient. The rally in crude prices may not last as U.S. shale output remains robust, according to Malaysia’s state oil company. “It will take many years until we see oil prices anywhere near the $100 mark,” Petroliam Nasional Bhd. President and Chief Executive Officer Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said at a conference in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. “We’ve underestimated the resilience of U.S. shale production. We’re still grappling our way to climb out of this big drop. The outlook is not very rosy.” (Reuters)

Gold Hits 3-Month High after Run of Downbeat U.S. Data. Gold reached a three-month high on Monday, rising for a fifth session as a run of soft U.S. data supported expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold off raising interest rates for the time being. Spot prices rose 3% last week, their biggest weekly climb in four months, after recent downbeat readings of the U.S. jobs market, retail sales and consumer sentiment led analysts to conclude that an imminent rate increase was unlikely. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,224.87 an ounce at 1836 GMT. Silver was up 1% at $17.67 an ounce, while platinum was up 0.7% at $1,171.21 an ounce and palladium was down 0.3% at $787.60 an ounce.