Midweek jumps 31 january

- A + A HONG KONG (May 17): JD.com Inc logged better-than-expected 18% revenue growth, after China's second-largest e-commerce operator grew market share to cushion the blow from Covid-19 lockdowns across the country's biggest cities. Sales climbed to 239.7 billion yuan (US$35.6 billion) in January-March, beating the 236.7 billion yuan average of analyst forecasts. It reported a net loss of three billion yuan. JD's stock surged more than 8% in pre-market trading in New York. JD and larger rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd are grappling with the economic fallout from the coronavirus-related lockdowns that have snarled logistics to cities such as Shanghai. Heavily reliant on domestic sales, JD has been expanding brand offerings to tempt shoppers. Alibaba is expected to post its slowest quarterly growth in revenue since its 2014 listing. Billionaire Richard Liu's online shopping empire has largely avoided a direct hit from Beijing's crackdown on China's biggest … [Read more...] about JD.com revenue jumps, defying China lockdown hit to spending

An illustration picture taken in London on December 30, 2021, shows gold plated souvenir cryptocurrency coins arranged by a screen displaying a NFT (Non-Fungible Token) logo. [AFP/YONHAP] The possibility of earning non-fungible tokens (NFT) in virtual gaming worlds shook the market and led to a rapid increase in the stock prices of a number of companies, until it became apparent that NFTs may be stuck in these virtual worlds. NFTs are unique, irreplaceable and irreproducible digital objects that represent the digital ownership of assets. The tokens are backed by blockchain technology to give buyers proof of ownership. Since late last year, a number of game companies have been contemplating the addition of NFTs to their games. The tokens could be discovered during gameplay, or points won by players could be redeemed for the tokens. The innovation raised the possibility of a useful workaround to a Korean law that prevents gamers from turning points earned in the gaming world … [Read more...] about Korean law on gamers may make metaverse useless

India’s largest life cover provider Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) made a lacklustre debut on the bourses on May 17, with declining nearly 9.4 percent after its initial public offering was subscribed nearly three times last week. The stock opened at Rs 867.20, against an issue price of Rs 949 on the BSE and touched a high and a low of Rs 886.80 and Rs 860.10, respectively. At 10.05am, the scrip was trading at Rs 883.40 on BSE, down 7 percent from its issue price of Rs 949 a share. India's benchmark Sensex rose 0.62% to 53224 points. Corrections in the equity markets globally seem to have hit the listing for the biggest public issue in the history of the Indian capital market. The situation was worsened by mounting inflationary pressure, stricter lockdowns imposed in China to combat Covid outbreak, and an unabated war on Ukraine by Russian forces. After the debut in the market, LIC has become the fifth most-valued Indian listed firm with a market capital of Rs 5.71 … [Read more...] about LIC share lists with 9.4% discount, stock debuts on BSE at Rs 867

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (May 17): Dialog Group Bhd posted a net profit of RM133.06 million for the third financial quarter ended March 31, 2022 (3QFY22), down 2.3% from RM136.17 million a year earlier, mainly caused by higher project cost. Earnings per share declined to 2.36 sen from 2.41 sen previously. Quarterly revenue, however, jumped 46.5% to RM593.43 million compared with RM405.18 million a year ago, contributed by increased business activities in both home and international operations, the oil and gas company's filing with the bourse on Tuesday (May 17) showed. The company also declared an interim cash dividend payment of 1.3 sen per share, to be paid on June 28, 2022. For the cumulative nine months ended March 31, 2022, Dialog's net profit slipped 3.7% year-on-year to RM389.76 million from RM404.6 million. Cumulative revenue, meanwhile, grew 51% to RM1.64 billion from RM1.09 billion. Dialog said the higher revenue reported by the Malaysian operations for … [Read more...] about Dialog posts lower profit for 3QFY22 despite revenue growth, declares 1.3 sen dividend

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Many articles now plaster the business media with news about the Great Resignation where employees see a hot labor market today and decide to go after a better situation for themselves. At Everest Group, we gathered empirical evidence from employees in many companies and compared that data with our findings from discussions with C-suite executives in leading organizations. Our study yielded both surprising and unsurprising findings. The biggest surprise is the significant gap between the reasons why employees move to other companies and what employers now do to try to retain them. The money picture Let’s start with data around why people leave their jobs and move to another company. It’s unsurprising, to say the least. They leave because they can get paid a lot more somewhere else – not a modest amount more – a lot more. What is surprising is the order of magnitude that this is happening and the amount of the … [Read more...] about Surprising Truths About The Great Resignation And Retaining Talent

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (May 17): Here is a brief look at some corporate announcements and news flow on Tuesday (May 17) involving Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem), Dialog Group Bhd, Duopharma Biotech Bhd, Yong Tai Bhd, Caely Holdings Bhd, Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNex), Reservoir Link Energy Bhd, Borneo Oil Bhd, Chin Hin Group Bhd and Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd (SCIB). Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd ( PetChem ) is acquiring the entire equity interest in leading specialty chemicals group Perstorp Holdings AB from Financière Forêt SARL for a base purchase of €1.538 billion (RM7.018 billion) cash. The acquisition marks the creation of a significant specialty chemicals portfolio, while enhancing its overall earnings, said PetChem, which together with its unit Petronas Chemicals International BV (PCIBV) has entered into a conditional securities purchase agreement with the seller for the proposed acquisition. Under the deal, PCIBV is required to pay a maximum … [Read more...] about PetChem, Dialog, Duopharma, Yong Tai, Caely, DNeX, Reservoir Link, Borneo Oil, Chin Hin and SCIB

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The hedge fund performance numbers for March and the first quarter are finally in. Data from With Intelligence shows that hedge funds generally protected wealth during the first quarter. However, while they broadly outperformed stocks in January and February, hedge funds could not stand up to the March rally in the stock market. March hedge fund performance The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index from With Intelligence returned 1.35% in March, underperforming the S&P 500's 3.58% return. The markets have been dealing with the broad sanctions on Russia imposed by the U.S. and its allies in connection with its invasion of Ukraine. Concerns about stagflation started to grow as the Federal Reserve shifted to a more hawkish stance as it tried to combat inflation. The U.S. Consumer Price Index jumped 8.5% in March, marking the largest year-over-year increase since December 1981. The Fed hiked interest rates by 25 basis points … [Read more...] about Hedge Funds Protected Wealth In Q1 But Lagged The Market In March

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The war in Ukraine, skyrocketing inflation and soaring commodity prices have combined to create the perfect setting for macro hedge funds this year, and most of them have taken advantage of it. Investors also expected robust returns from macro funds, so they have already poured billions of dollars into the strategy year to date. However, there is one other hedge fund strategy that's outperforming macro year to date, and that's managed futures. Macro events boost macro hedge funds According to a report from With Intelligence released last week, the HFM Macro Index was up 3% for the first quarter and 5.7% for the 12 months ending in March. Managed futures funds returned 7.7% for the first quarter and 5.5% for March. The HFM Global Composite was roughly flat for the first quarter, down 0.1%, while U.S. stocks declined 4.9%. Equity funds were in the red for the first quarter, returning -3.6%. Event-driven funds were … [Read more...] about Investors Favor Macro Hedge Funds With Flows, But This Strategy Is Outperforming Macro

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on May 9, 2022 - May 15, 2022. Izham: We remain bullish on MAG’s future [and] cautiously optimistic about the environment. (Photo by Suhaimi Yusuf/The Edge) - A + A MALAYSIA Aviation Group Bhd (MAG), which narrowed its full-year net loss for 2021 by 60% over the preceding year, remains on track to achieve break-even in 2023 as part of its Long Term Business Plan 2021-2025 (LTBP 2.0). However, group CEO Captain Izham Ismail warns of headwinds from fuel and foreign exchange (forex) volatility, which could affect the target. MAG, whose wholly-owned subsidiaries include Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB), MAB Kargo Sdn Bhd (MABkargo), FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd and MASwings Sdn Bhd, posted a net loss of RM1.65 billion for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021 (FY2021), a significant improvement on the year-earlier RM4.1 billion net loss when it was dealing with the effects of a slowdown in the global economy and … [Read more...] about Malaysia Aviation Group on track to break even in 2023 but faces fuel, forex headwinds

- A + A NEW YORK (May 18): Global equity markets rallied and Treasury yields rose on Tuesday, as solid U.S. retail sales in April suggested economic growth might strengthen, as did an easing of China's lockdowns to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. retail sales rose 0.9% last month while data for March was revised higher to show sales advancing 1.4% instead of 0.7% as previously reported, the Commerce Department said. The data show U.S. consumers weathering inflationary headwinds as sales gained for the fourth consecutive month, said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial. Sales are nominal, so much of the increase is from higher prices, he said. "We expect a rebound in economic growth in Q2," Roach said in an email, if prices moderate enough to relieve some of the pressure on consumers. U.S. and European stocks rallied following gains overnight in Asia. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe closed up 2.0%. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose … [Read more...] about Shares rebound, Treasury yields rise on stronger data