<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner>In today’s edition of Evening 5 — Foreign direct investment into Malaysia falls 54.8% in 2020 to the lowest level since 2009. In Covid-19-related news, Malaysia’s daily new Covid-19 cases climbed back over the 6,000 mark today, while SPM and STPM candidates are due for their vaccination shots from next month.</div>
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EVENING 5: FDI falls 54.8% to RM14.6bil in 2020

KUALA LUMPUR (May 9): All eyes wiill be on Bank Negara Malaysia as the central bank is set to announce its overnight policy rate (OPR) decision later this afternoon.

A Bloomberg poll showed that all 24 economists it surveyed are expecting BNM to keep the OPR unchanged at 3% following Ma...

Economists bet on BNM leaving the OPR unchanged later today

MADRID (May 9): Real Madrid showed they remain Europe's comeback kings as Joselu's late double rescued them from the brink of elimination to reach the Champions League final with a dramatic 2-1 second-leg win over Bayern Munich at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

A 4-3 aggregate victorys...

Real Madrid stun Bayern with late fightback to reach Champions League final

(May 9): Tesla Inc.’s directors say they don’t want a do-over in Texas of the Delaware court battle that killed co-founder Elon Musk’s US$56 billion pay package — regardless of whether shareholders approve reincorporating the electric-car maker in the Lone Star state.

Lawyers for Tesla’...

Tesla board vows not to move Musk pay court fight to Texas

(May 9): House Democrats joined with Republicans to block a hardliner attempt to overthrow Speaker Mike Johnson, a rare cross-party alliance formed to reward the GOP leader for help securing US$61 billion in aid for Ukraine.

Yet the speakers’ reliance on partisan opponents to maintain h...

House Democrats quash ouster of partisan foe Speaker Johnson

(May 9): The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher on Wednesday, stretching its winning streak to six straight and closing above 39,000 points for the first time in five weeks, as investors kept betting on supportive U.S. monetary policy.

The other Wall Street benchmarks cooled a to...

Dow ends higher for 6th session, but Treasury yields pressure market

NEW YORK/LONDON (May 9): Global equity markets mostly faltered on Wednesday as investors await fresh inflation data to better assess the likelihood of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, while the dollar edged higher on expectations of U.S. economic out-performance.

European stocks rose...

Stocks slip, dollar gains as market awaits inflation data

(May 9): Aston Villa are ready to face their biggest challenge of the season on Thursday when they look to overturn a two-goal deficit against Olympiakos in the second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday, manager Unai Emery said.

Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-tric...

Villa ready for season's biggest challenge against Olympiakos, Emery says

(May 9): Goldman Sachs on Wednesday said they no longer expect OPEC+ to announce a partial unwind of voluntary production cuts in June.

The bank said inventories have recently surprised to the upside, and as a result, their model now estimates only a 37% chance of a production increase ...

Goldman Sachs sees OPEC+ unlikely to raise production at June meeting

(May 9): Britain is refusing to sign the World Health Organization's pandemic accord because the country says it would have to give away a fifth of its vaccines, the Telegraph reported on Wednesday.

Britain will only agree to a legally binding global accord if there is a commitment that...

UK refuses to sign global vaccine treaty, The Telegraph reports

(May 9): Vacation rental company Airbnb reported a higher quarterly profit on Wednesday but forecast second-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations, sending shares of the company down 8% after the bell.

Accommodation companies in the first quarter have seen the demand for travel ...

Airbnb forecasts weaker Q2 revenue despite robust demand for international travel

KUALA LUMPUR (May 8): The global semiconductor industry is expected to rebound this year, driven by demand for generative artificial intelligence (AI), with the industry’s upcycle likely to continue until 2025 or 2026, said Nomura Asset Management.

Global semiconductor industry to recover this year through 2026 on generative AI demand — Nomura

Industronics Bhd said it has been appointed as the project management company to develop a hotel and golf course on a 155-acre parcel of land in Langkawi.

Widad’s largest shareholder appoints Industronics to manage Langkawi golf course, hotel development

The emergence of digital banks in Malaysia does not significantly impact traditional banks, primarily due to their limited ability to achieve rapid growth within the initial years of operation.

S&amp;P Global Ratings senior analyst, financial institution ratings, South and Southeast Asia (SSEA), Sue Ong said that the five digital banking licences issued by the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in 2022 do not seem to be a game changer for now.

Digital banks will not affect traditional banks in Malaysia — S&P Global Ratings

Pharmaniaga Bhd’s (KL:PHARMA) has been flagged by its independent auditors again, as its current deficit and capital deficiency for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023) widened from a year ago.

Messrs PricewaterhouseCoopers PLT (PwC) raised material uncertainty on the Pharmaniaga whereby its audit indicated that the group and the company incurred net losses of RM78.7 million and RM63.3 million respectively.

Pharmaniaga’s auditors raise going concern issue again as current deficit, capital deficiency widen

Fitters Diversified Bhd [KL:FITTERS] saw Doris Wong Sing Ee emerge as its substantial shareholder after she acquired 45 million shares in the fire protection equipment supplier.

Wong acquired 45 million Fitters shares from the open market on May 3, raising her stake in the fire protection equipment supplier to 5.12%, Fitters bourse filing showed.

Metronic Global director Wong emerges as Fitters’ substantial shareholder

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EVENING 5: Five things you need to know today

KUALA LUMPUR (May 8): Here is a brief recap of some business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Wednesday:

Sentral Real Estate Investment Trust (KL:SENTRAL), or Sentral REIT, posted a 30.29% increase in its net property income in the first quart...

Sentral REIT, Vstecs, Dufu Tech, MNRB, Mega First,  Ivory Properties, Paragon Globe and Sarawak Cable

Mega First Corp Bhd (MFCB) is buying a 64% stake in CSC Agriculture Holdings Sdn Bhd, a company that is involved in plantation and the wholesale of fruits and vegetables, for RM25 million.

Mega First buys 64% stake in CSC Agriculture for RM25 mil

Malaysian conglomerate Axiata Group (KL:AXIATA) and Indonesian group PT Sinar Mas have sought permission from the Indonesian government to merge their telco units, the communications minister told Reuters on Wednesday.

Axiata, Sinar Mas seeking permission for Indonesia telco merger, minister says

The Home Ministry (KDN) has inked 14 contracts with local companies valued at RM2.156 billion in conjunction with the Defence Services Asia (DSA) Exhibition &amp; Conference 2024 and National Security (NATSEC) Asia 2024.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the signing of the contracts is symbolic of the ministry’s continuous efforts for agencies under its purview.

Home Ministry signs 14 contracts with local companies worth over RM2 bil

Paragon Globe Bhd (KL:PGLOBE) is selling part of a parcel of freehold land it had just acquired in the district of Plentong, Johor Bahru, for RM238.32 million to improve its liquidity and financial position.

Paragon Globe to sell part of JB land it just bought for RM238 mil

Sarawak Cable Bhd (KL:SCABLE) has to go back to the drawing board and look for a new white knight to regularise its financials.

The Practice Note 17 (PN17) company announced that the Memorandum of Agreement it entered with Serendib Capital Ltd has fallen through.

Sarawak Cable needs a new white knight as 'resuscitation exercise' falls through

Intel Corp expects second-quarter revenue to fall below the midpoint of previously issued projections because of a new US ban on chip exports to Huawei Technologies Co.

Intel sees revenue falling below midpoint on US Huawei ban

The Transport Ministry (MOT) does not reject any strategic partnerships with private parties to provide services for its agencies, but such partnerships needed to be done properly and required official approval.

Its minister, Anthony Loke said the ministry did not want any company to launch or announce any services for government departments suddenly without the knowledge of the ministry itself.

Loke tells BJAK to submit official application for strategic partnership with MOT, JPJ

Practice Note 17 (PN17) company Ivory Properties Group Bhd (KL:IVORY) said in a Bursa Malaysia filing on Wednesday it had been granted a restraining order by the High Court of Malaya in Penang to restrain all further proceedings against the company including winding up, execution and arbitration from its creditors.

The restraining order, which will last for a period of three months from April 19, 2024, is to enable Ivory Gleneary Sdn Bhd (IGSB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ivory Properties, and its creditors to formalise the proposed scheme of arrangement and thus allow for the extension of time to submit the company's regularisation plan in order to get out of the PN17 status.

Ivory Properties gets three-month restraining order to avoid winding up proceedings by creditors

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has arrested a company director and a law firm owner on suspicion of submitting false information related to foreign currency investments, totalling approximately RM38 million.

Company director, law firm owner detained over RM38 million investment case — MACC

Financial planners need to carry out their duty to report any suspicious activities, that might be linked to money laundering, to the authorities, Bukit Aman Anti-Money Laundering Criminal Investigation Division assistant director ACP Foo Wei Min.

Financial planners should report suspicious activities to authorities — police

Annum Bhd (KL:ANNUM), formerly known as Cymao Holdings Bhd, has been categorised a Practice Note 17 (PN17) company as its new external auditor&nbsp;Messrs SBY Partners PLT expressed a disclaimer of opinion on its audited financial statements for the 18 months ended June 30, 2023, after they failed to obtain sufficient evidence to verify the group's assets.

Annum slips into PN17 after auditor says it can't vouch for company's financials

SINGAPORE (May 8): Local telco operators StarHub and M1 are said to be back to exploring a potential merger of their businesses, according to TMT Finance, citing five sources familiar with the matter.

StarHub, M1 potential merger said to be back on — TMT Finance

Communication Minister Fahmi Fadzil has stressed that the police investigation into the news report about the proposed casino development in Forest City, Johor, was not initiated by the government but resulted from a police report lodged by a law firm representing a company mentioned in the article.