Energy

Brent crude was 0.49% higher to US$51.69 per barrel at 3.54pm.

Forex

The ringgit was up 0.12% to 4.3415 versus the dollar at 4.04pm.

Top foreign stories

Singapore Q1 jobless rate hits seven-year high: Singapore’s overall jobless rate hit a seven-year high in the first quarter, while employment saw the biggest fall in nearly 14 years, underscoring weakness in sectors of the city-state’s domestic economy. The unemployment rate rose to 2.3% in the first quarter from 2.2% in the quarter before, hitting a level last seen in the fourth quarter of 2009, preliminary data from the Ministry of Manpower showed. — Reuters

Maersk Line to pay US$4b for smaller rival: The world’s biggest container shipping company Maersk Line will pay 3.7 billion euros (US$4.02 billion) for its acquisition of smaller German rival Hamburg Sud, it said on Friday. Combined, the two companies will be able to realise annual operational savings of about US$350 million to US$400 million, Maersk Line said. — Reuters

Barclays Q1 profit doubles, misses bond trading boom: Barclays reported its first-quarter profit more than doubled on Friday, but its investment bank missed out on a bond trading boom that saw earnings surge at its Wall Street rivals. Barclays said its profit before tax was 1.7 billion pounds (US$2.19 billion), up from 793 million pounds a year ago and better than the 1.46 billion pounds average estimate of analysts’ forecasts compiled by the bank. — Reuters

Indonesia central bank relaxes reserve requirement rules to stabilise market: Indonesia’s central bank loosened regulations on reserve requirements on Friday to allow banks some flexibility to better manage liquidity, a step aimed at reducing volatility in the overnight money market. From July, banks must keep a minimum 5% of their total deposits at Bank Indonesia (BI) everyday and maintain at least a 6.5% average of total deposits in the period of two weeks. Banks would get an interest of 2.5% from BI. — Reuters

Sony sees profit nearing 20-year-old record with 73% jump this year: Sony Corp said on Friday it expects annual operating profit to surge 73.2%, closing in on a two decade-old record, as its cash-cow image sensor business recovers from quake damage and enjoys strong demand from smartphone vendors. Sony forecast profit to reach 500 billion yen (US$4.50 billion) in the financial year through March 2018 from 288.7 billion yen a year prior. — Reuters

Top local stories

Malaysia Airports Q1 earnings surge to RM62m: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) saw its earnings surge 264% to RM62.02mil in the first quarter, underpinned by a better performance of the Malaysian operations as well as foreign currency gains compared with the larger losses a year ago. Its operating profit was up 32.8% to RM269.61mil from RM202.94mil a year ago. Revenue climbed 7.3% to RM1.093bil from RM1.019bil. — StarBiz

CIMB says outlook ‘better than it has been’: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd said the outlook for the group is bright given that a major part of the provisions are now behind it. “We had queries on why our record revenue did not translate into record profits and this is due to the provisions in FY16. Our outlook is now better than it has been for some time,” says chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak. — StarBiz

Bring down tariff to zero, Najib tells Asean: Asean must work vigorously to bring down tariffs in the region to zero and eliminate non-tariff barriers, as there is no other alternative to create a seamless economy, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Non-tariff barriers and measures must also be reduced and ultimately removed, he said. — Bernama

Hansard to raise RM20m from China listing: Hansard Group Sdn Bhd, a company involved in seaweed cultivation, aims to raise RM20 million via its listing on China’s Hai Xia Equity Exchange. Chief executive officer Wing Chong Yin said proceeds from the listing would be used as working capital to propel its Semporna Seaweed Cultivation Project in Sabah. — Bernama

Miti: Malaysia gaining momentum in aero parts and components exports: Malaysia is gaining momentum in the export of aerospace parts and components after the industry’s strong growth in 2016, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. Malaysia’s exports of aerospace products increased 32.6% in 2016 to RM5.53 billion compared with RM4.17 billion in 2015, with aerospace parts and components being the main exports, he said. — Bernama

AirAsia X carries 1.4 millon passengers in Q1: AirAsia X Bhd carried 1.4 million passengers in the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, up 33% from 1.055 million passengers a year earlier. In its preliminary operating statistics released Friday, the airline also said its capacity rose 28% to 1.66 million versus 1.29 million previously. — StarBiz