Jan 13, 2024
#Policy, Data Center, Electric Vehicle (EVs), Magnificent 7, BATMMAAN
Donald John Trump was a Republican candidate who won the general election and became the 45th president of the USA from 2017 to 2021. In the last year's U.S. election, Trump succeeded his rival, Kamala Harris from the Democratic party with 312 electoral votes. In comparison, Democrats have only secured 226 electoral votes, leaving 44 seats insufficient to continue the...

(Kuala Lumpur, 14th) The United States has released more details on new export restrictions on artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Kenanga Investment Bank believes that the impact of the new regulations varies across industries in Malaysia, while restrictions on AI computing power by the USA for other countries globally pose midterm risks in the field of Malaysian datacenters.
Kenanga Investment Bank cited the latest information from the Biden administration, stating that countries like Malaysia classified as 'Level 2 restricted' face lower restrictions on AI chip imports, potentially gaining a larger share of AI chip imports than previously expected.
The United States has also categorized Verified End Users (VEUs) into two types: Universal VEU (UVEU) and National VEU (NVEU). NVEUs allow certified companies from Malaysia and other countries to import computing power equivalent to up to 0.32 million advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) of AI chips in the next two years.
The following is what Kenanga Investment Bank believes about the impact of the latest measures in the USA on our country's Datacenter industry chain:
Can construction industry benefit from this disaster?
Analysis suggests that the US restrictions may require local datacenter construction companies to rush their work, with a slightly positive impact.
This may prompt the accelerated allocation of resources and construction speed of hyperscale NVEUs in Malaysia.
However, the analysis still warns that in the medium term, the construction speed of data centers is unlikely to continue to exceed that of the USA and its allies, as the total computing capacity needs to comply with a 7% proportion limit.
This may limit the growth rate in the domestic data center sector.
Nevertheless, the analysis...

(Kuala Lumpur, 15th news) Despite the rising demand and the tariff policies of figures like Trump, which are expected to boost Malaysia's glove sector, analysts indicate that the positive outlook has already been factored into the stock prices, leading to a downgrade in glove stock rating to 'Neutral.'
An analyst at Funglun Investment Bank pointed out that in fact, in a market strategy report dated December 17 last year, the glove rating was already downgraded to 'Neutral,' mainly due to the sector's strong stock performance since mid-September.
Analysts mentioned that although they remain optimistic about the operational status of glove manufacturers, the recovery sentiment for 2025 has long been factored into current stock prices.
In terms of company coverage, analysts have given a "Buy" rating on Kossan Industries (KOSSAN, 7153, Main Board Healthcare Stocks), mainly driven by the upward revision of the price-to-earnings ratio.
Analysts point out that by 2025, there are several key milestones to pay attention to, but the pros and cons have both been somewhat diminished.
In this, the global glove market will achieve supply-demand balance, mainly due to customer return to fill inventory, and regional participants will not make significant moves in capacity expansion.
Furthermore, there are issues regarding the quality of gloves in China, as well as the gradual increase in U.S. tariffs over the next two years. However, analysts still maintain their earlier view that the journey of volume and average selling price recovery is not average.
Furthermore, whether the 'China +1' strategy will bring about the issue of oversupply, analysts say it is too early to consider because there are still many uncertainties, as well as...

JP Morgan Chase and Nomura successively cut valuations, Datacenter concept stocks continue to decline.
After the United States introduced export restrictions on artificial intelligence (AI) chips, Malaysian Datacenter concept stocks plummeted one after another, with the Put trend showing no signs of abating. Both JP Morgan Chase and Nomura Securities have downgraded industry ratings.
Nomura Securities reported that the proposed new regulations in the United States are unfavorable to the development of Datacenters in Malaysia, as Malaysia is classified as a 'Level 2 restricted' country, with a cap of 0.049 million H100 units, equivalent to less than 50 megawatts (MW) of AI information technology (IT) load capacity.
Although the restriction only targets advanced AI chips, not low-end chips, it is understood that most cloud computing deployments require advanced chips.
According to analysts, companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have launched large-scale AI datacenters in Malaysia and initiated the initial phase of construction.
Considering the country's advantages in land, electrical and hydraulic facilities, such as availability and low cost, Malaysia remains an ideal destination for VEU (UVEU) at a global level.
Nevertheless, UVEU may also decentralize its operations to countries like Thailand and Indonesia, reducing its capital expenditure plans in Malaysia.
Capital expenditure may decrease.
Nomura Securities believes that although UVEU will continue Malaysia's datacenter capital expenditure plan in the short term, it is not the case in the long term.
From the perspective of the new regulations in the USA, the government does not encourage companies to build AI infrastructure overseas, and has taken measures to address the midterm energy constraints in the USA. Future regulatory changes...

The Digital Renaissance: A Future of Trust, Intelligence, and Immersion
The future is unfolding into a hyper-connected, intelligent, and immersive digital world where technology seamlessly integrates with human life. At the heart of this transformation is digital identity, serving as the foundation of a secure and decentralized online presence. Powered by blockchain, individuals will own and control their personal data, ensuring privacy and eliminating the need for intermedi...