EVEN as the guessing game for the date of the 14th general election continues, investors’ attention in the first half of the week is likely to be on the final week of earnings reporting for the period ended Dec 31, 2017, and the first monetary policy report by the new US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday.

Parliament is set to reconvene next week, from March 5 until April 5, unless the prime minister makes that much anticipated announcement. There are three school holiday periods between now and Aug 24 — a general election has to be held no later than two months from the automatic dissolution of Parliament on June 24, being the end of the current five-year term — March 17 to 25, June 9 to 24 (Hari Raya on June 15 and 16, Awal Ramadan on May 17) and Aug 18 to 26.

While Bank Negara Malaysia’s reserves of US$103.6 billion as at mid-February, which were announced last week, were slightly lower than US$103.7 billion (the first fortnightly decline since mid-March 2017), the position remains ample at 1.1 times short-term external debt and 7.1 months of retained imports.

The ringgit remains relatively strong, adding to the general feel-good factor from the disbursement of the RM1,000 special payment for civil servants and RM500 for pensioners on Jan 8. Civil servants will receive another RM500 ahead of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, as announced in Budget 2018 last October. The 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) is slated for disbursement this month and in June and August.

At the time of writing, the ringgit fetched 3.9118 to the US dollar, about 1% off its recent high of 3.871 on Jan 26. The ringgit has gained against the Singapore dollar at 2.9575, near its 19-month high of 2.9543 on Feb 8. Bloomberg data show the most bullish projections between 3.69 and 3.79 for this year, compared with median projections of 3.85 to 3.96 to the US dollar. Forward rates ranged from 3.93 to 3.95 at press time.

Generic Brent crude oil fetched US$66.37 a barrel at the time of writing, off its recent high of US$77.53 on Jan 24, but recovering from its one-month low of US$62.05 on Feb 13 and way above its one-year low of US$44.82 on June 21, 2017.

Companies reporting 2017 full-year results from Feb 26 to 28 include Malayan Banking Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, IHH Healthcare Bhd, S P Setia Bhd, Sunway Bhd, AirAsia Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Uchi Technologies Bhd, KPJ Healthcare Bhd, UEM Sunrise Bhd, Star Media Group Bhd, Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd, Hap Seng Plantations Holdings Bhd and UMW Holdings Bhd. Companies reporting second-quarter results include Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Sime Darby Property Bhd and Signature International Bhd.

The main economic data release in Kuala Lumpur this week is the Consumer Price Index for January on Wednesday. Malaysia projects inflation to be between 2.5% and 3.5% this year. Headline inflation was 3.5% in December 2017 (up from 3.4% in November), bringing the average for last year to 3.7%, nearer to the upper range of the official projection of 3% to 4% for last year.

Key regional economic data releases this week include Singapore’s latest unemployment and January industrial production figures on Monday, the Bank of Korea’s rate decision on Tuesday, India’s and Hong Kong’s 4Q GDP, Japan’s industrial production and retail sales figures as well as Thailand’s exports and trade figures on Wednesday, China’s Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index and Indonesia’s CPI on Thursday as well as Thailand’s CPI, South Korea’s industrial production and Singapore’s PMI manufacturing data on Friday.

The eurozone will also see several data releases, including the Business Confidence Index, Industrial Sentiment Index, Business Climate Index and Consumer Sentiment Index on Tuesday, the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (Wednesday) and unemployment data (Thursday). The US will see the release of the ISM Manufacturing Index on March 1 and University of Michigan Sentiment Index on Friday.

On the Malaysian corporate front, Wellcall Holdings Bhd and Fiamma Holdings Bhd are having their respective annual general meetings (AGMs) on Monday. On Tuesday, JCY International Bhd is having its AGM while Selangor Properties Bhd shareholders will meet on Wednesday.

Companies holding their extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) this week include Chemical Co of Malaysia Bhd (CCM), Asia Brands Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd and Ta Win Holdings Bhd.

CCM wants shareholders’ approval to sell three parcels of land with buildings in Shah Alam (deemed non-core assets) to Global Vision Logistics Sdn Bhd for RM190 million. Some RM179 million of the proceeds will be used to pare down its bank borrowings —which stood at RM468 million — which would  result in about RM8.5 million interest savings per annum although there is an expected loss on disposal of RM8.9 million, its circular to shareholders read.

Asia Brands, a company with a range of baby products and lady’s innerwear, is also looking to pare down borrowings. It wants shareholders’ approval to raise RM27.57 million from issuing 31.99% of its share capital at 74.1 sen each to Trackland Sdn Bhd, which is involved in the textile, fabric, garment and apparel industry.

Hibiscus has proposed a one-for-five free warrant issue while Ta Win is seeking approval for a proposed rights issue and redeemable convertible preference shares (RCPS) that comes with free detachable warrants on the basis of three rights shares and four RCPS with two warrants for every existing Ta Win share.