MY MIDDAY INSIGHTS | BUYING SAVING AHEAD, KLCI STAND BACK AT 1460 POINTS

The sharp rise in international crude oil prices dragged down the three major US stock indices overnight. As for the overall Asian stock market, today, the Asian stock market is falling more or less, while Malaysian stocks have returned to the level of 1,460 points, driven by investors taking advantage of the low entry into the market.

When the market closed at 12:30 noon, the composite index closed at 1460.61 points, starting at 5.78 points, or 0.39%.

The half-day trading volume was 2.6 billion shares, with a transaction value of RM1 billion.

The FTSE Malaysia All Stock Index closed at 10780.58 points, starting at 41.74 points.

There were 262 rising stocks, 618 falling stocks, 654 had no ups or downs, and 790 had no transactions.

As of 12:30 noon, ringgit was at the level of 4.6720 to 1 US dollar.

500 Global, a well-known US venture capital agency, raised US$143 million (approximately RM665.29 million) to invest more in Southeast Asian startups during a period of declining valuations in the technology sector.

Investors in 500 Global's current financing include the Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund - Khazanah Nasional (Khazanah Nasional) and the Civil Service Pension Fund Authority (KWAP). Among them, the new fund of 100 million US dollars (approximately RM406.24 million) will focus on investing in start-ups in the early stages of establishment, while the remaining capital will be invested in companies in the growth stage.

Bloomberg pointed out that 500 Global's actions show that even if the market is impacted by rising interest rates, high inflation, and falling valuations of technology companies, some venture capital firms are still looking for capital and looking for opportunities to take action.

One of 500 Global's management partners, Vishal Harna, told Bloomberg that when the market enters a downward cycle, it is often a good opportunity for venture capital institutions to act.

“This is a great time to invest, especially since you can clearly spot the signals in the noise. Currently, some assets are undervalued in the market, and we should invest more in this.”

The Chinese Embassy in Washington does not agree with outsiders interpreting China's economic slowdown as a sign that the country is facing deeper problems. While acknowledging that post-pandemic recovery has been difficult, it also emphasizes that it is optimistic about the growth trajectory.

Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the US, told reporters at an online briefing that post-epidemic economic recovery will sometimes have ups and downs. However, the fundamentals of China's long-term economic growth have not changed.

At the time he made these remarks, people are increasingly worried that China's $18 trillion economy is slowing down at an unhealthy pace without recovering as expected after years of vaccination restrictions ended.

Liu Pengyu also pointed out that many major economies (especially the US and the European Union) are tightening monetary policies with the aim of reducing inflation, but this may cause countries to fall into recession.

He said that global economic recovery is fragile, and major developed economies have adopted austerity policies, causing spillover effects.

He added that the global market remains unstable and unpredictable.

A series of disappointing Chinese economic data prompted some analysts to predict that China will miss its growth target of around 5% this year. China's growth path is slowing down, which means that in the long run, it will be difficult for China to surpass the US as the world's number one economy.

GX Bank is a subsidiary of GXS Bank in Singapore. It is mainly a joint venture between Grab and New Telecom, and the Malaysian Foundation also includes Kwok Brothers Private Limited.

According to GX Bank's statement, it successfully passed the deadline set by the Bank of China, that is, before April 2024, early and became the first digital bank to be approved for operation, and won the first place among five digital bank licensees in Malaysia. However, for the time being, it is only open to group employees for test use.

A research analyst at Societe Generale Investment Bank said that since GX Bank has not yet promoted the product, at this stage, it can only use the products launched by GXS Bank to draw inspiration.

“Since GXS Bank Singapore has been in operation for almost a year, we can quickly explore the bank's products to meet expectations for GX Bank.”

Overall, analysts expect GX Bank to launch full of attractive interest rates and features for users to use.

Moreover, in addition to providing some high-interest savings accounts, it is believed to include some attractive features, including no minimum deposit amount, no maintenance fees, and an untiered interest rate structure.

Next is microfinance. Analysts pointed out that when GXS Bank started the service, it mainly provided instant microloans, while users can apply for a loan of S$200 through the app. The minimum period is two months, and the annual interest rate starts at 3.8% and is calculated daily.

According to the statement, Mintai Kinden received an independent investigation report issued by Alan Kang & Co Law Firm on August 29 and accepted the investigation results submitted by the latter in the report.

These results include a delay in announcing the divestment of shares by a former director and possibly involving insider trading. Mintai Kintek said that the reason for the dubious divestment was that the deal not only involved former directors, but also occurred on the same day that the company announced its inclusion in the PN17 list on March 29.

Mintai Kinden did not announce the name of the former director in question, but according to local media The Edge, the company's former director Noazelino Azele sold a total of 12.6 million shares or 1.34% of its shares on March 28 and 29.