KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 31): The measures announced in Budget 2018 will help fuel tourism growth and air connectivity to Malaysia, which will in turn benefit the retail sector, said Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA) president Datuk Garry Chua.

“The RM500 million that is allocated for t...

Budget 2018 measures will help boost retail sector, says MRCA

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 28): AmBank Research said that Budget 2018 with its emphasis to lower the fiscal deficit to 2.8% of grodd domestic product (GDP) in 2018 from 3.0% in 2017 supported by higher revenue on the back of better-than-expected GDP growth of 5.7% for 2017, should bode well for the capita...

Budget 2018 bodes well for capital market, says AmBank Research 

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27):  An economist has called for a reprioritising of expenditure to address the imbalance between the development expenditure and operating expenditure in the country’s Budget.

Socio-Economic Research Centre executive director Lee Heng Guie said that while the fe...

Govt expenditure should be reprioritised, says economist

PETALING JAYA (Oct 27): The National House Buyers Association (HBA) has lauded the government’s move to build more affordable homes. However, it said the government needs to ensure that the homes reach the right target market.

“They must build the right product at the right place with t...

HBA: Affordable housing policy needs to be targeted at the right segment

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): Budget 2018’s  proposals to stimulate the housing rental market could  mark the beginning of a greater focus on the rental market in the near future, according to Laurelcap Sdn Bhd executive director Stanley Toh.

He was commenting on Budget 2018 which wa...

Budget 2018 trains eyes on rental market

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): The government’s move to allocate RM4.9 billion to implement the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Malaysia masterplan is a step in the right direction, says the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM).

The federation noted that the merger of ...

FMM: TVET Malaysia masterplan is a step in the right direction

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27):  Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) said measures anounced in Budget 2018 are positive for the consumption, infrastructure, tourism and finance sectors.

"We are happy to see the government continuing with its prudent approach in fiscal management as can be seen by...

Budget 2018 provides positive impetus on consumer spending, say banks

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): A property industry group says Budget 2018 does not provide any measures to arrest the problems in the real estate market and offers no incentives to assist first time buyers.
 
The Association of Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents and Property Con...

Budget offers no incentives to arrest problems in property mart — PEPS

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa, has lauded the government in tabling “the most inclusive and comprehensive” national budget, as it strikes a balance between national transformation efforts and Malaysians’ welfare.
 
“[Budget 2018]...

Chief Secretary lauds ‘most inclusive and comprehensive’ Budget 2018

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): The Real Estate and Housing Development Association (REHDA) has hailed the federal government's allocation in Budget 2018 for the middle 40 (M40) and bottom 40 (B40) income groups, and called on state governments to follow Putrajaya's lead in providing more low-income housi...

REDHA urges states to follow Putrajaya's lead by providing more low-income housing options

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) said it is encouraged by Budget 2018’s focus on strengthening government-linked companies (GLCs) and government-linked investment companies (GLICs), from the perspective of building human capital.

Its chief executive Tan Sri ...

LTAT: Budget 2018 incentives will enhance productivity of those working for GLCs and GLICs

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng questioned if the goods and services tax (GST) rate would be raised in the coming years.

"We want to know if the government is maintaining the GST or is it going to raise it in three to four years. Singapore increased it to 7% af...

Will GST rate be raised in three to four years, Guan Eng asks

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): Budget 2018 is a bold step towards sustainable health financing with a commitment towards the implementation of voluntary health insurance scheme, but falls short on increased drug allocation, according to the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy.

Chief execu...

Budget 2018 supports sustainable health financing but raises drug allocation concerns

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): Moody’s Investors Service says Budget 2018 “lacks any major fiscal and in particular revenue reforms”.

This, it said, is despite the Budget preserving the deficit-reduction trend that has been underway since 2009. For 2018, the government is attempting to narrow t...

Budget 2018 lacks major fiscal and revenue reforms — Moody’s

Malaysia must accelerate the modernisation of its agricultural sector and improve production efficiency to strengthen food security amid growing challenges, said Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.

Agricultural modernisation key to strengthening food security — Mohamad Sabu

Anthropic PBC’s initial public offering (IPO) plans ran into a punishing post-election selloff, prompting a rethink among prospective investors of the company’s expected valuation.

Anthropic IPO buyers see valuation as low as US$1.1 tril

A seafarer on a Greek-owned oil tanker was killed in an apparent missile attack in the Gulf, its owner said on Friday.

Company says sailor killed in Gulf tanker attack

Monster Beverage Corp shares fell as much as 8.2% on Friday, the biggest decline in over two years, after the energy drink giant’s weaker-than-expected margins underscored the impact of soaring costs in the beverage industry.

Monster shares fall as weaker margins highlight cost burden

Pakatan Harapan's (PH) track record as a key component of the federal government should serve as a yardstick for Melaka voters to assess the coalition's capabilities ahead of the 16th Melaka state election on Nov 14, said Pasir Gudang Member of Parliament Hassan Abdul Karim.

Melaka voters urged to judge PH by federal govt's performance — Hassan Karim

Collaboration between plantation companies and oil palm smallholders to increase both parties’ yields and income will be raised at the Cabinet meeting next week, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Plantation companies-oil palm smallholders collaboration to be raised in Cabinet next week — Anwar

US consumer sentiment rose in November to a three-month high, bolstered by modest improvements in Americans' views of their personal finances and the economic outlook.

US consumer sentiment unexpectedly rises, fuelled by independents

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose on Friday as chip stocks bounced off heavy losses posted in the previous session on fears that a Democratic-led Congress could result in tougher artificial intelligence (AI) regulation, even as the jobs report raised interest-rate hike concerns.

Nasdaq pares losses as chips recover, rate-hike fears linger

Treasuries dipped after an unexpected surge in US job growth led traders to add to wagers that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will raise interest rates when officials next meet in December.

US Treasuries stumble as strong jobs data backs Fed-hike bets

TikTok moved one step closer to a new European Union fine after regulators found its video-recommendation algorithm pushes users down “rabbit holes” of potentially harmful content, escalating an almost three-year probe into the video-sharing app.

EU escalates TikTok probe over algorithmic ‘rabbit holes’

Authorities should investigate the source of the money raised to pay former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s fine, said DAP’s Tony Pua.

Investigate source of money raised to pay Najib’s fine, says Tony Pua

Datuk Lee Yeow Seng has stepped down from the board of IOI Corp Bhd (KL:IOICORP) to focus on the conglomerate’s property arm, IOI Properties Group Bhd (KL:IOIPG), which is in the midst of listing IOIPG Malaysia Real Estate Investment Trust on Bursa Malaysia.

Lee Yeow Seng steps down from IOI Corp board to focus on leading IOI Properties

Datuk Seri Najib Razak should remain in prison until the conditional pardon order on his house arrest is clarified, the Attorney General's Chambers said on Friday.

Attorney General: Najib should remain in jail until house arrest order clarified

SoftBank Group Corp&nbsp;founder Masayoshi Son and other tycoons across Asia saw billions erased from their fortunes as a global tech sell-off rippled through their companies on Friday.

AI elite lose US$18 bil as chip stock rout spreads to Asia

A consortium comprising MISC Bhd (KL:MISC), Yinson Holdings Bhd's (KL:YINSON) founding Lim family and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has submitted a formal proposal to privatise Yinson at RM2.50 per share, valuing the energy infrastructure group at RM7.31 billion. 
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MISC, Lim family, EPF make RM4 bil offer to take Yinson private at RM2.50 a share

Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's house arrest has yet to start despite paying the RM50 million fine required by the Federal Territories Pardons Board, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said on Friday.

Loke says Najib at hospital for checks, to quit as soon as ex-PM's house arrest starts

Bursa Securities has directed Zetrix AI Bhd (KL:ZETRIX) to pay its delayed final dividend for the &nbsp;year ended Dec 31, 2025 (FY2025) by Nov 23. The bourse regulator also asked the company to disclose material information on its financial condition and several other developments which it views with serious concern. 
&nbsp;

Bursa directs Zetrix to pay FY2025 final dividend by Nov 23, disclose info on financial condition

Malaysia’s push to become a regional data centre hub is putting pressure on its energy infrastructure, as new power generation and grid capacity take much longer to build than the facilities they are meant to support, according to experts.

Energy capacity struggles to keep pace with Malaysia’s data centre ambitions

Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves rose&nbsp;to US$132.6&nbsp;billion as at Oct 30, 2026, from US$132.1&nbsp;billion as at Oct 15.

BNM international reserves hit US$132.6b as at Oct 30

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has expressed disagreement with Umno’s decision to pay the RM50 million fine on behalf of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, stressing that corruption and abuse of power must not be taken lightly in the name of friendship.

Anwar disagrees with Umno paying Najib's RM50 mil fine

Here is a brief recap of some business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Friday.

Unisem, Frontken, Public Bank, Maxis, Zetrix AI, TRC Synergy, IOI Corp, IOI Property, MISC,  Yinson, Microlink, APB Resources & Nestcon

The Attorney General's Chambers has no basis to delay Datuk Seri Najib Razak's house arrest as the former prime minister has met all the condition set by the king, said lead defense counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Shafee: AGC has no legal basis to delay Najib's house arrest

MARC Ratings has downgraded Zetrix AI Bhd's (KL:ZETRIX) RM2 billion sukuk programme to a default rating of D-IS after the tech company failed to settle a RM25 million obligation due on Friday.

MARC Ratings downgrades Zetrix AI sukuk to default over unpaid RM25m

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 6): Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (KL:MHB) has completed the issuance of sukuk murabahah with an aggregate nominal value of RM350 million under its sukuk murabahah programme of up to RM1.0 billion.

MHB completes RM350 mil sukuk murabahah issuance

Bursa Malaysia’s 20 largest technology stocks shed over RM4.46 billion in market value on Friday as a global sell-off in artificial intelligence (AI)-related counters spread to the country’s chipmakers and equipment suppliers.

Global AI sell-off wipes RM4.46 bil off Bursa’s 20 largest tech stocks

Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan, an experienced Malaysian finance professional, has been elected as the new president of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Malaysia's Zaiton Mohd Hassan elected as new ACCA president

YES, the Republicans have lost, and lost decisively. The defeat was so overwhelming that even Donald Trump, who has repeatedly challenged election results in the past, broke with precedent by publicly declaring almost immediately that he would accept the outcome. The margin of victory was simply too wide for any challenge to stand a chance. 
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Opinion — Pain, despair and fear: The political tsunami behind Trump's Republican defeat and its implications for the world

TRC Synergy Bhd (KL:TRC) on Friday confirmed that it holds a 30% stake in the joint venture (JV) that was awarded a RM2.69 billion contract to build the Penang LRT Mutiara Line's cross-sea extension linking Penang Island to the mainland.

TRC Synergy confirms 30% stake in JV awarded RM2.69b Penang LRT contract

About 600,000 of Nvidia's advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips are stored in Hong Kong awaiting shipment to mainland China, two people familiar with the matter said, as Beijing withholds approval for large-scale imports despite demand from tech firms.

Nvidia chips said to pile up in Hong Kong as China withholds import approval

A summary of how key Bursa Malaysia indices and the ringgit performed on Friday.

Budget 2018

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