MY Closing Bell Reviews｜WEAKMARKET SWEAKING, KLCI BELISHING AT 3.10 points

Asian stocks started falling first today. Among them, East Asian stock markets such as China, Hong Kong, and Japan rebounded during the closing phase, while the FTSE Composite Index hovered below 1,460 points for almost the whole day.

When the market closed at 5 p.m., the Composite Index closed at 1458.93 points, down 3.10 points, or 0.21%.

The full-day turnover was 2,92,302,300 shares, with a turnover value of RM1,82812,2721.

The FTSE Malaysia All Shares Index closed at 10701.39 points, down 18.31 points.

There were 358 rising stocks, 464 falling stocks, 450 with no ups and downs, and 1,015 with no trading.

Meanwhile, at 5:1 p.m., the ringgit was converted to the level of 4.5712.

Malaysia's palm oil stocks rose to a five-month high in July. Although the data showed that export data also continued to rise, the surge in production still exceeded expectations, driving up inventories.

According to the report of the Malaysian Palm Oil Authority, inventories increased by 0.7% month-on-month to 1.73 million tons.

Notably, this is the highest level since February, but it's still lower than Bloomberg's pre-survey data, which originally estimated inventories recorded around 1.79 million tons.

Palm oil production jumped 11% to 1.61 million tons, a seven-month high, higher than pre-survey data of 1.56 million tons.

In terms of export volume, exports in July increased by 16% month-on-month to 1.35 million tons, an increase exceeding expectations.

The country's consumer sentiment index (CSI) and business condition index (BCI) both declined for the next quarter, while the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) believes that despite the current good macroeconomic data, if consumption and business sentiment continues to decline, the national economy may change from prosperity to decline.

According to MIER data, CSI continued the previous downward trend in the next quarter, falling 8.4 points to 90.8 points from quarter to quarter, but increasing by 4.8 points year-on-year.

The next quarter's employment index also showed the same trend, falling 7.4 points quarterly, or 7.8 points year-on-year, to 102.4 points.

As for the next season's BCI, it also fell 13 to 82.4 points from quarter to quarter, which is also the lowest level since the next quarter of 2020. On a year-over-year basis, BCI fell 13.8 points next quarter.

Meanwhile, domestic companies seem pessimistic about business prospects. The BCI forecast index for the next quarter fell to 94.3 points, compared to 115.8 points in the previous quarter.

MIER pointed out that although most of the national economic data for the next quarter were positive, CSI and BCI performed poorly, reflecting that consumers and the business community did not feel that the economy was improving, or that they were worried about the future direction of the economy.

“Although macroeconomic data are mostly improving, the government should keep a close eye on index trends in the business sector and consumers. If the downward trend of the relevant indices continues into the next quarter, then the current positive growth trend will easily be reversed.”

According to MIER, the performance of component indices in BCI and CSI is also worrying. The business community told the agency that both domestic and export orders and sales have declined, while production has declined, but inventories have increased due to fewer orders.

“The decline in business orders and sales may reflect the rising cost of living crisis faced by many countries, especially developed countries.”

In terms of consumer sentiment, surveyed consumers said their liquidity had decreased and they were concerned about their personal future finances.

“As a result, consumers are starting to spend less, but this will further cut orders and production from the business community.”

MIER suggests that the government should continue to encourage people to spend domestically while attracting more overseas investment, and must continue to prioritize these two points.

Higher operating costs dragged down 4.44% year-on-year net profit for the 2023 fiscal year to RM17.632,000, but it was announced that a dividend of 3.19 cents would still be distributed.

The trustee reported to Malaysia Stock Exchange on Thursday that the next quarter's turnover increased by 4.60% to RM38.19 million.

Looking at the first half of the year, turnover increased slightly by 0.52% to RM75.667,000; net profit fell 9.05% annually to RM35.297,000.

Furthermore, he stated that the average debt cost of SENTRAL assets continued to remain at 4.44%, mainly impacted by the overnight policy interest rate (OPR).

He expects interest rates to remain at 3.0% this year, and the maternity fund will regularly evaluate loans to find the optimal ratio of fixed and variable interest rate loan combinations.

The subsidiary Eco World Capital Berhad issued a 5-year second instalment of Islamic bonds with a total price of RM5.5 billion.

According to the statement, the issued bonds will be used for the operating purposes of Lusheng and its subsidiaries, including capital expenses for the acquisition of land and investment activities in line with Islamic teachings.

Furthermore, the funds raised will also be used to refinance existing or future loans, in addition to general corporate purposes.

RRJ Capital (RRJ Capital), an Asian private equity fund, is rumored to inject US$300 million (RM1,371 billion) into Yunsheng Holdings

Bloomberg reports that sources who did not wish to be named due to privacy-related issues said that the company will invest in Yunsheng Group's floating storage and unloading production tanker (FPSO) by September and may continue to cooperate in the future.

The source said that discussions are still ongoing and it is uncertain whether the deal will continue, while representatives of RRJ Capital and Yunsheng Group declined to comment.

Yunsheng Group is a Malaysian listed company focusing on the design, construction, operation and production of equipment in the oil and gas fields. It has 9 FPSO sets in Malaysia, Vietnam, Africa and Brazil. In addition, Yunsheng Holdings also invests in renewable energy and has floating support solution installations for offshore vessels.

Coincidentally, the media has received an invitation from Yunsheng Holdings, namely Yunsheng Holdings, RRJ Capital, and Farossan, which will sign a cooperative financing agreement on the 18th of this month to jointly develop energy infrastructure and technology projects.

Since the beginning of the year, the stock price of Yunsheng Holdings has increased by 4%, with a total market capitalization of about US$1.6 billion (RM7.316 billion).

This is not the first time RRJ Capital has been involved in the energy industry. In 2012, it joined forces with Singapore's Temasek Holdings to purchase shares in Cheniere Energy (Cheniere Energy) in the US to fund liquefied weather export facilities.

Two years later, RJJ Capital increased the investment amount to purchase 1 billion US dollars (RM4,573 million) of convertible bonds issued by Chenier.