The median monthly wages in Malaysia's formal sector increased by 5.6% year-on-year to RM2,745 in September 2024, as reported by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Malaysia’s median monthly wages up 5.6% in September 2024, official data shows

Manpower shortages as well as regulatory and logistical hurdles will be among the challenges faced by the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ).

Johor-S'pore Special Economic Zone faces challenges in manpower shortage, regulatory and logistical hurdles, says Maybank IB

Malaysia plans to focus on strategic engagements with free trade agreement (FTA) partners and emerging markets this year in an effort to increase its exports, said Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

Malaysia eyeing trade growth with FTA partners, emerging markets this year — Zafrul

The euro-area economy’s sub-par performance is convincing the European Central Bank (ECB) that it can further loosen the shackles on growth by lowering interest rates for a fourth straight meeting this week.

Eurozone’s lacklustre growth set to keep ECB on rate-cut path

PUTRAJAYA (Jan 27): The Pertubuhan Persaudaraan Pesawah Malaysia (PeSAWAH), an association representing paddy farmers, has urged the government to consider its proposal to raise the paddy floor price from RM1,300 per tonne to RM1,800.

Farmers organisation urges govt to raise paddy floor price to RM1,800 per tonne

Thailand transferred about 30 billion baht (US$890 million or RM3.9 million) to its senior citizens on Monday, part of a government programme to tackle the high cost of living and stimulate the nations’ sluggish economy.

Thailand hands out US$890m to elderly in boost for economy

WELLINGTON (Jan 27): New Zealand will introduce looser visa rules to allow holiday makers to work remotely while visiting the country, to boost its tourism sector and economy, it said on Monday.

New Zealand loosens visitor visa rules to welcome digital nomads

Business activity has slumped at British firms and profit warnings have risen, according to two reports that say each trend is the worst it’s been since the pandemic.

UK firms see biggest hit to output and profit since pandemic

Moody’s Ratings has reaffirmed Malaysia’s sovereign credit rating at “A3” with a “stable” outlook while declaring that Malaysia’s medium-term growth prospects remain buoyant.

MOF: Moody’s affirmation reflects govt's consistent efforts to sustain economic growth

Moody's Ratings on Friday affirmed Malaysia's sovereign rating at A3 with a stable outlook, citing strong medium-term growth prospects and effective policymaking institutions.

Moody's keeps Malaysia's sovereign rating at A3, outlook stable

The home state of India’s financial capital signed investment pledges worth US$200 billion (RM875.49 billion) at Davos, with a majority coming from foreign investors, said Maharashtra’s chief minister on Thursday.

India’s Maharashtra gets US$200b investment vows at Davos

The Bank of Japan raised interest rates on Friday to their highest since the 2008 global financial crisis and revised up its inflation forecasts, underscoring its confidence that rising wages will keep inflation stable around its 2% target.

BOJ raises interest rates to highest in 17 years, yen jumps

As an export-driven economy, Malaysia faces challenges this year in keeping up with policy shifts made by its third largest trading partner, the US, according to AmBank.

Malaysia faces challenges keeping pace with US policy shifts, says AmBank economist

Malaysia is expected to see continued growth in consumer spending throughout 2025, with real household spending forecasted to increase by 5.2% year-on-year, driven by a favourable macroeconomic environment, according to BMI, a Fitch Solutions unit.

BMI sees Malaysia’s household spending surging 5.2% in 2025 amid steady inflation, labour market

A US appeals court on Monday threw out consumer protection rules adopted by the Biden administration to ban bait-and-switch tactics and prohibit auto dealers charging for add-on costs that do not benefit new car buyers.

US court throws out Biden-era rules designed to protect car buyers

US stock futures steadied, the dollar ticked higher and tech stocks in Asia slid on Tuesday following a wave of selling as apparent advances by a Chinese AI startup cast doubt on US dominance and spending in one of the market's hottest sectors.

China's AI drive hammers tech stocks

China Vanke Co has been thrown a lifeline by state authorities, a rare show of support that signals the developer may be too big to fail even after dozens of property firms defaulted amid China’s punishing housing slump.

Rare China support shows developer Vanke may be too big to fail

AI proxy stocks on Bursa Malaysia continued to decline after Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek set off a selling spree in US tech shares.

Malaysian AI proxy stocks continue decline after DeepSeek-led selloff bruises US tech shares

Google Maps will change the name of "Gulf of Mexico" to "Gulf of America" once it is officially updated in the US Geographic Names System, Google said in an X post on Monday.

Google Maps to rename 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America' for US users

President Donald Trump said he would soon impose tariffs on foreign pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and metals, and heralded news of DeepSeek’s apparent progress in artificial intelligence as “a positive,” as he addressed House Republicans on Monday.

Trump vows ‘near future’ tariffs, calls DeepSeek progress ‘good’ 

MORNING CALL: 28/1/25

Investors remain sceptical about the Chinese yuan, fearing the potential for volatility during and after the upcoming one-week trading holiday, despite the country’s apparent reprieve from worse-case US tariffs.

Yuan investors on edge as China’s holiday may spur swings

The dollar strengthened against every major currency after comments on tariffs from US President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent bolstered demand for the greenback.

Dollar climbs as Bessent, Trump reignite universal tariff threat

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE is selling the stake it owns in Stella McCartney back to the brand’s founder as the luxury group cleans up its portfolio of labels amid a downturn for high-end goods.

LVMH sells Stella McCartney stake back to founder after downturn

The proxies to artificial intelligence (AI) on Bursa Malaysia are not spared from the global selldown triggered by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek that has prompted investors to rethink the exuberant valuations in the equity markets.

No lucky escape for Bursa AI proxies from DeepSeek-triggered selldown

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

Bursa Malaysia, DXN, AAX, Capital A, Ekovest, Knusford, Prolintas, YNH Property, Crescendo, Icon Offshore, MMAG, Bina Puri, SCIB, Unitrade, Symphony Life, Vizione

Nvidia Corp’s plunge, fuelled by investor concern about Chinese artificial-intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek, erased a record amount of stock-market value from the world’s largest company.&nbsp;

Nvidia’s US$465b DeepSeek plunge is largest in market history

The world’s 500 richest people, led by Nvidia Corp co-founder Jensen Huang, lost a combined US$108 billion (RM472.8 billion) on Monday as a tech-led selloff tied to Chinese AI developer DeepSeek sent major indices plunging.

World’s richest people lose US$108b after DeepSeek selloff

President Donald Trump said he would soon impose tariffs on foreign pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and metals, and heralded news of DeepSeek’s apparent progress in artificial intelligence as “a positive,” as he addressed House Republicans on Monday.

REDtone Digital Bhd (KL:REDTONE) has been mopping up more shares in Theta Edge Bhd’s (KL:THETA) since July last year, making it the second largest shareholder of the company.

REDtone surfaces as Theta Edge’s second-largest shareholder

Malaysia has become the first country to witness the signing of a&nbsp;six-way 4G multi-operator core network (MOCN) sharing agreement, said Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

M'sia first in world to see MNOs sign sharing agreement to enable six-way 4G multi-operator core network, says Fahmi

Nvidia on Monday said Chinese AI firm DeepSeek's advances show the usefulness of its chips for the Chinese market and that more of its chips will be needed in the future to meet demand for DeepSeek's services.

Nvidia says DeepSeek advances prove need for more of its chips

AI proxy stocks on Bursa Malaysia continued to decline after Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek set off a selling spree in US tech shares.

US stock futures steadied, the dollar ticked higher and tech stocks in Asia slid on Tuesday following a wave of selling as apparent advances by a Chinese AI startup cast doubt on US dominance and spending in one of the market's hottest sectors.

Property developer Symphony Life Bhd (KL:SYMLIFE) has emerged as the largest shareholder of Vizione Holdings Bhd&nbsp;(KL:VIZIONE) with a 25.88% stake, after subscribing to the entire private placement by Vizione.

Symphony Life emerges as Vizione’s largest shareholder in RM12m deal

Wall Street expects US&nbsp;oil&nbsp;and gas companies to keep a lid on spending in 2025 and keep their focus on generating shareholder returns, despite calls by President Donald Trump to "drill, baby, drill".

Big Oil in no rush to 'drill, baby, drill' this year despite Trump agenda

Cryptocurrency-linked stocks sank on Monday after the success of a low-cost Chinese AI model shook investor confidence, sparking a retreat from risky assets and pummeling shares of companies that were set to benefit from the surge of spending on AI data centres.

Crypto stocks hit as AI plays sink, traders flee risk assets

The median monthly wages in Malaysia's formal sector increased by 5.6% year-on-year to RM2,745 in September 2024, as reported by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

A financial consultancy firm suspected of orchestrating a personal loan fraud syndicate manipulated the turnaround time during the loan approval process by banks.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki explained that banks typically take three to five days to approve personal loans.

Ops Sky: Personal loans approved by manipulating turnaround time — Azam Baki

Digital media and advertising solution company Catcha Digital Bhd (KL:CATCHA) has proposed to diversify into information technology (IT) solutions.

Catcha Digital eyes diversifying into IT solutions, following acquisition of 51% stake in SaaS provider

Talk of an artificial-intelligence upstart in China behind a formidable ChatGPT rival had been building for days.

DeepSeek’s overnight fame strains its systems, draws attacks

Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd (KL:SCIB) has denied allegations by Awana JV Suria Saga Sdn Bhd (Awana), the developer of the previously scrapped RM162 million Perak housing project, regarding outstanding debts and demanded the latter to settle the debt promptly.

SCIB denies developer's allegations over debt repayment, demands debt settlement

Google Maps will change the name of "Gulf of Mexico" to "Gulf of America" once it is officially updated in the US Geographic Names System, Google said in an X post on Monday.

Co-founder of Cocoaland Holdings Bhd Lau Pak Lam has raised his stake in loss-making digital payment solutions provider PUC Bhd (KL:PUC) to 5.041% from 4.26%.

Lau acquired 8.1 million shares in the ACE Market-listed company on the open market last Thursday (Jan 23), bringing his total shareholding to 140.1 million shares, according to PUC’s filing with Bursa Malaysia.

Economic Focus

‌
‌

Economic Focus

‌‌

‌
‌