MarketWrap: Wall Street closed slightly lower on Thursday as bank shares declined in quiet holiday trading as traders looked to position for the new year. - Reuters

The DJIA fell 13.14 points, or 0.07%, to 19,820.54, the S&P 500 lost 0.56 points, or 0.02%, to 2,249.36 and the Nasdaq dropped 6.47 points, or 0.12%, to 5,432.09.

Forex summary

*The ringgit gained 0.02% to 4.4843 per US$

*It was 1.04% lower at 4.7338 per euro

*Down 0.24% to 5.5106 per pound sterling

*It was down 0.17% at 3.1014 per Singapore dollar

*0.34% lower to 3.2465 per Aussie

*0.12% lower at 3.8528 per 100 yen
 
Energy

Oil futures dipped on Thursday after a surprise build in US crude inventories reversed an advance in prices that had boosted the benchmarks to their highest levels since July last year. Brent crude fell 8 cents, or 0.1%, to US$56.14 a barrel. - Reuters

Top foreign stories

J&J discussing breaking up Actelion in an acquisition: Johnson & Johnson is negotiating a deal to acquire Swiss biotechnology company Actelion Ltd that would separate its commercialised portfolio from its research and development assets, sources said on Thursday. - Reuters

Britain avoids M&A collapse as foreign buyers go Brexit bargain hunting: Britain avoided a collapse in mergers and acquisitions activity after the shock Brexit vote as foreign companies used sterling's spectacular devaluation against the US dollar to snap up British companies, Thomson Reuters data show. British M&A totalled US$177.5 billion in 2016, down sharply from the record US$394.8 billion reached in 2015. - Reuters

Bankers cautious on outlook for global equity deals after 2016 slide: Global equity raising fell by more than a quarter in 2016, data showed on Friday, hit by geopolitical shocks and a string of failed initial public offerings (IPOs), with the outlook for 2017 looking shaky. Companies raised US$648.9 billion in equity during 2016, against US$873 billion last year, Thomson Reuters Equity Capital Markets data up to Dec 28 showed. - Reuters

Top local stories

Serba Dinamik to list in Feb in biggest Malaysia IPO in 19 months: Engineering group Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd is looking to raise RM584 million in an IPO on Bursa Malaysia in February, in what would be the country's biggest listing in 19 months. CEO Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah says  he company will offer 389.4 million shares in the IPO with a retail price of 1.50 ringgit each, though the final offer price will be determined after a bookbuilding exercise with institutional investors in January. - Reuters

Rising price of crude buoys O&G penny stocks: Oil and gas penny stocks on Bursa Malaysia have seen some buying interest over the last few days, buoyed by higher oil prices from expectations of tighter supply once the first output cut deal by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and non-Opec producers in 15 years takes effect this Sunday. - StarBiz

Bank Negara: 9-month Klibor to be phased out: Bank Negara announced that the nine-month Kuala Lumpur Interbank Offered Rate (Klibor) rate will be phased out Jan, 1 2018. During the transitional period beginning Jan 1, 2017, all market participants with existing contractual agreements referencing the nine-month Klibor are expected to review their contracts to provide customers with alternative mechanisms, it said. - StarBiz

CHHB unit appeals against order to pay tax arrears: Country Heights Holdings Bhd’s (CHHB) unit, Country Heights Sdn Bhd, which was ordered by the Shah Alam High Court to pay the Government tax arrears amounting to RM22.49mil, is appealing to the Finance Minister against the decision. - StarBiz

BCorp posts higher earnings in Q2: Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp)’s net profit surge 44.3% to RM176.5mil in the second quarter, mainly due to a higher contribution from the property investment and development business segment. Revenue rose to RM2.45bil from RM2.25bil a year earlier. - StarBiz

Auditor expresses qualified opinion on SMTrack’s financial statements: SMTrack Bhd’s external auditor, Messrs KC Chia & Noor, has expressed a qualified opinion on the company’s financial statements for the ended July 31, 2016. SMTrack said the auditor highlighted three issues that remained unresolved – the carrying value of certain assets, accounts’ opening balances and a gain on disposal of a subsidiary company. - StarBiz

Shareholders advised to accept offer for The Store: Independent adviser Mercury Securities Sdn Bhd has recommended The Store Corp Bhd shareholders accept the takeover offer price of RM3.70 per share by the offerers, the Tang family, deeming it reasonable but not fair. - StarBiz

APFT posts first-quarter loss on lower revenue: APFT Bhd posted a net loss of RM3.32mil  for the first quarter on a revenue of RM15.16mil. The company is in the midst of streamlining its operation and disposing of non-core assets. - StarBiz

Nexgram posts Q1 loss on disposal of units: Nexgram Holdings Bhd reported a net loss of RM2.3mil for the first quarter, versus a net profit of RM3.9mil a year ago, on increased losses from the disposal of IT subsidiaries. Revenue dropped 56.7% to RM13.43mil. - StarBiz

Gas Malaysia earnings unaffected by tariff revision: Gas Malaysia Bhd’s earnings will not be impacted by the recently announced gas tariff revision but the implementation of the gas cost pass through mechanism could result in lumpy cash flows for the company, says MIDF Research. - StarBiz

Margma expects global demand for gloves to rise 10% next year: The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma) expects global demand for rubber gloves to increase by 8% to 10% next year. It projected total export revenue RM15.2bil in 2017 compared with RM14.3bil this year. - StarBiz

FoundPac makes firm Main Market debut: FoundPac Group Bhd made a firm debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia when it opened at 61 sen, or seven sen above its offer price of 54 sen each. It ended the day 22.22% higher to 66 sen after hitting a high of 68 sen. - StarBiz

SC says it will act against MQ Tech if securities laws breached: The Securities Commission (SC) said it is currently looking into the facts surrounding the Ace Market-listed MQ Tech over the possibility of insider trading and will not hesitate to take action if there are any breaches of securities laws. - Bernama

IoT the new buzzword: Despite rising interest in the Internet of things (IoT) with more companies announcing ventures into IoT, an explosive growth in the sector is only expected in two to three years along with the anticipated increase in Internet speed to fifth generation or 5G, and the drop in global cost of IoT sensor, says a tech sector analyst. - Edge FD

2016 corporate dealings healthy: The Malaysian corporate sector continued to see a healthy number of transactions and dealings in 2016. Statistics show a bounce in deal activity with merger and acquisition, venture capital and private equity deals as well as initial public offerings (valued at a total US$15.6 billion (RM69.89 billion) compared with US$9.7 billion in 2015. - Edge FD

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