<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner>KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 27): CIMB IB Research has maintained its “Hold” rating on UMW Oil &amp; Gas Corp Bhd (UMW-OG) at 30 sen with a higher target price of 33 sen (from 32 sen) and said UMW-OG delivered a 9M17 core net loss of RM148 million, which made up 78% of house previous full-year core net loss forecast, and 42% of consensus, above expectations.</div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner>In a note today, the research house said the outperformance was principally due to lower-than-expected operating costs.</div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner>“We now project a quarterly profit in 4Q17F, as with 3Q17, thus we narrow our FY17F core net loss and core EPS loss forecasts by 23% and 8%, respectively.</div><div class=inPageAd id=div-gpt-ad-inpage></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner>“We revise up our DCF-based target price to 33 sen (Ke: 12.62%), rolling forward to end-CY18F, and maintain our Hold recommendation,” it said.</div>

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 27): CIMB IB Research has maintained its “Hold” rating on UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd (UMW-OG) at 30 sen with a higher target price of 33 sen (from 32 sen) and said UMW-OG delivered a 9M17 core net loss of RM148 million, which made up 78% of house previous full-year core net loss...

CIMB IB Research keeps Hold on UMWOG, raises target to 33 sen 

Reddit Inc forged a partnership with OpenAI that will bring its content to the ChatGPT chatbot and other products, while also helping the social media company add new artificial intelligence (AI) features to its forums.

Reddit forges pact with OpenAI to bring content to ChatGPT

Applied Materials Inc, the largest US maker of chipmaking machinery, failed to impress investors with its latest forecast following a rally in the shares this year.

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MOSCOW (May 17): Russia and Malaysia have signed an agreement to avoid double taxation, the Russian finance ministry said on Friday, describing the move as a significant step towards redirecting Russian business to Asia and the Middle East.

Russia, Malaysia sign agreement to avoid double taxation

Weather is rattling the rice market once more, driving prices of the food staple back to the cusp of 15-year highs after a period of calm. 

Supplies were already upended by sweeping export restrictions from top shipper India last year and worries that drier weather from El Nino would curb output in the important growing region of Southeast Asia. Now catastrophic floods in southern Brazil are adding to the jitters.

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All travellers into Singapore will be able to use automated lanes that scan passports and use facial and iris recognition by the end of year, the city-state’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority said.

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Ping An Insurance Group Co is weighing options that would allow it to reduce its 8% stake in HSBC Holdings plc, according to people familiar with the matter. 

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SEOUL (May 17): North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast, South Korea's military said on Friday.

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China's factory output topped forecasts in April, helped by improving external demand, although retail sales unexpectedly slowed and the property sector remained a drag on the economy, piling pressure on Beijing to do more to support growth.

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JERUSALEM (May 17): Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday (May 16) said that Israel would abolish its free trade agreement with Türkiye and also impose a 100% tariff on other imports from Türkiye, in retaliation for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to halt exports to Israel.

Israel to abolish free trade deal with Türkiye in retaliation

Norman Pang Group (NPG), the country's leading insurance agency, has announced its intentions to go public on the prestigious Singapore Exchange (SGX), during an event held at the Nexus Connexion Conference & Event Centre (CCEC) here today. The ceremony was witnessed by Dato' Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib, Chief Executive Officer of the National Film Development Corporation (FINAS) where NPG’s pre-initial public offering (pre-IPO) on Singapore Exchange engagement agreement was signed between NPG, represented by founder and chairman, Dato’ Seri Norman Pang, Singapore-based Evolve Capital Advisory by its managing partner and chief executive officer, Jerry Chua, and Cannis Chan, chairman of MCI Capital, facilitating the group with its upcoming IPO exercise.

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The male suspect who was shot dead in the attack at the Ulu Tiram Police Station here earlier on Friday is believed to be a member of Jemaah Islamiyah.

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Two policemen were killed and another was injured in an attack on the Ulu Tiram Police Station early on Friday morning.

State police chief Commissioner M Kumar confirmed the incident, stating that it occurred at 2.45am and involved a masked intruder armed with pistols and a machete.

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KUALA LUMPUR (May 17): Shares of S P Setia Bhd (KL:SPSETIA) soared to their highest in nearly six years on Friday, as analysts continue to advise investors to buy the stock, even as its stock price has nearly doubled so far this year.

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BWYS Group Bhd has signed an agreement with M&amp;A Securities Sdn Bhd to underwrite the sheet metal products manufacturer and scaffoldings supplier's upcoming initial public offering (IPO) on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia.

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Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research said the anticipated rebound in construction activities, particularly in railway projects, is expected to generate more contract opportunities for companies like Econpile Holdings Bhd (KL:ECONBHD).

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Shares of Hup Seng Industries Bhd (KL:HUPSENG) climbed to their highest in nearly three years after the biscuit maker reported that its net profit surged 45% year-on-year in the first quarter.

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KUALA LUMPUR (May 17): Shares of Hong Leong Industries Bhd (KL:HLIND), or HLI, climbed to near their record high on Friday, after the motorcycle assembler reported a 51% year-on-year jump in net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2024.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) criticised the Biden administration’s decision to aggressively raise tariffs on some Chinese goods, underscoring its warning that tensions between the world’s top two economies risk hurting global trade and growth.

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Asian stocks inched lower on Friday as traders pondered the near term US monetary policy path after Federal Reserve (Fed) officials suggested that interest rates may need to stay higher for longer even as inflation shows early signs of easing.

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KUALA LUMPUR (May 17): Shares of Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd (KL:MPI) climbed to their highest in 15 months, as analysts flagged stronger quarters ahead following the semiconductor company’s return to the black.

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Rakuten Trade said Poh Kong Holdings Bhd (KL:POHKONG) is back on the radar after it pushed out from the pennant pattern with a long white candle on Thursday.

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KUALA LUMPUR (May 17): Sarawak Cable Bhd (KL:SCABLE) said that the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the company and Serendib Capital Ltd (Serendib) had been validly terminated.

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The Ministry of Transport (MOT) fully supports Khazanah Nasional Bhd and the Employee Provident Fund’s (EPF) move to privatise Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (KL:AIRPORT), or MAHB, as it will enable the implementation of strategic decisions more expediently, according to its minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.

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A suitable list of names for the position of the Election Commission (EC) chairman should be submitted to the Special Parliamentary Select Committee on Human Rights, Elections, and Institutional Reform for vetting before being proposed to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) for consideration as per Article 114 of the Federal Constitution.

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Shut out of US markets and under fire in Europe, China’s electric carmakers are zeroing in on the countries where they’re welcome. One of the big ones is Brazil.

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Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad&nbsp;Sanusi&nbsp;Md&nbsp;Nor's sedition trial will proceed in the High Court here in July.

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Noland Arbaugh still doesn’t quite know what happened. He doesn’t know many of the key details about how his life took such a drastic and now extraordinary turn. How he became Noland Arbaugh, celebrity cyborg.

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The Dow reached an intra-day high of 40,000 for the first time on Thursday, but it ended lower after paring earlier gains, as investor hopes of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) were buoyed by data showing inflation slowdown, as well as strong corporate earnings results.

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Selangor opposition leader Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said on Friday that there was no denial from Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu (Mat Sabu) or businessman Deepak Jaikishan regarding their trip to India, or Deepak’s involvement in procuring a direct negotiation contract with the government for his brother’s company, namely J&amp;E Advance Tech Sdn Bhd, to import eggs into Malaysia.