As the second round of the Movement Control Order (MCO 2.0) imposed nationwide except Sarawak is scheduled to end on 

Feb 4, the government’s next move to stem the spread of Covid-19 is highly anticipated, particularly as daily new cases appear to be rising rather than falling. The government is also expected to release the standard operating procedures for Chinese New Year, which is less than two weeks away.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah previously said that the government does not intend to extend the current movement restrictions, following widespread speculation of a stricter lockdown.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has said that subsequent decisions would take into account the overall interests of the people, including the economic sector, while Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz has assured that there will not be a total lockdown of the economy even in the worst-case scenario.

Last Friday, Malaysia recorded 5,725 Covid-19 cases — another record high that raised the total tally to more than 200,000.

As Federal Territory Day falls on Monday (Feb 1), it is a shorter week with fewer major economic data releases in Malaysia.

The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Malaysia and countries in the region such as India, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines will be released on Monday.

China’s official January manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI surveys will be announced earlier on Sunday (Jan 31).

Indonesia will be releasing its 4Q2020 GDP performance on Friday. Southeast Asia’s largest economy is set to post its first full-year contraction since the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis, with Bloomberg forecasting a 2% contraction for both 4Q and the whole of 2020.

Other important data from the region include inflation figures for Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. South Korea is set to release its January trade figures as well.

Market focus will also be on India’s FY2021/22 Budget, with Bloomberg projecting the central government’s fiscal deficit to narrow to 5.5% of GDP in FY2022, from an estimated 6.6% in FY2021 (against the budgeted 3.1% target for FY2021).

There are three monetary policy decisions taking place in Asia-Pacific this week — the Reserve Bank of Australia (Feb 2), Bank of Thailand (Feb 3) and Reserve Bank of India (Feb 5). All three central banks are expected to maintain their policy rates.

In the US, over the week of Feb 1 to 5, lawmakers will move on President Joe Biden’s plan to deliver more Covid-19 relief to Americans and businesses. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said his chamber will begin work on a “robust” coronavirus package as early as this week while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted that Congress will complete a key preliminary step before the end of this week.

The eurozone is scheduled to release its 4Q2020 GDP on Tuesday. Bloomberg forecasts a bigger year-on-year drop of 6.1%, against 4.3% in 3Q.

The Bank of England is the only G7 central bank with a monetary policy decision this week.

“We do acknowledge, though, that with the economy taking another hit from a second lockdown, the chances of the MPC (monetary policy committee) having to do more have certainly risen. However, we do not see the bank rate going below zero for now,” UOB said in a note last Friday.

On the local corporate front, Feb 2 is the deadline for Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) to make a decision on the privatisation of Boustead Holdings Bhd (BHB). Trading of the conglomerate’s shares will be suspended on that day.

The Edge, quoting sources, reported that LTAT may privatise BHB via selective capital reduction and repayment. It also said that LTAT is likely to raise its indicative price of 80 sen for each BHB share that was proposed last May.

Moving into the corporate earnings season, Bursa Malaysia Bhd is scheduled to release its 4Q2020 financial performance on Tuesday. Owing to active share trading, the stock exchange’s net earnings hit another record high of RM121.94 million in 3Q, after raking in RM86.23 million in 2Q.

Shareholders of BSL Corp Bhd are set to meet virtually at its annual general meeting on Feb 3. A few companies will be having their extraordinary general meeting this week, including Green Packet Bhd (Feb 1), Oversea Enterprise Bhd and LFE Corp Bhd (Feb 2), as well as Sunsuria Bhd, Solarvest Holdings Bhd and G3 Global Bhd (Feb 5).