Malaysian FM to attend ASEAN Coordinating council, Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Jakarta

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Feb 2 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Foreign Minister Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, will lead the country’s delegation to the 32nd ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC) Meeting and ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ (AMM) Retreat from Feb 3 to 4, 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia.  Indonesia helms the Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2023 with the theme “ASEAN…

Malaysia’s external trade to expand steadily beyond 2023 with new FTAs

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 (NNN-Bernama) — MIDF Research expects Malaysia’s external trade activities to expand steadily beyond 2023 amid the impacts of new trade agreements, apart from elevated commodity prices and lower monetary rates. In a note Thursday, it said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for…

Flash floods cause havoc in Indonesia’s south Sulawesi

JAKARTA, Feb 2 (NNN-Bernama) — Several hours of heavy rain triggered flash floods and landslides in the city of Parepare, South Sulawesi last night, local media reported. At least two people were missing after a landslide hit Kesuma Timur Road, located on the southwest coast of Sulawesi. Areas that were…

Indian tycoon Gautam Adani’s firm aborts US$2.5 billion share sale as stocks slump

NEW DELHI, Feb 2 (NNN-Bernama) — Indian tycoon Gautam Adani’s flagship company Adani Enterprises on Wednesday cancelled its US$2.5 billion share offering amid a rapid erosion in the conglomerate’s market value. The company’s 200 billion rupees (about US$2.5 billion) follow-on public offering (FPO) was fully subscribed on the final day…

Malaysian gold market to move south in 2023, bucking international gold market trend – Public Gold

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 (NNN-Bernama) — The Malaysian gold market is expected to trade lower this year amid lingering fears of global recession coupled with the Bank Negara Malaysia’s (central bank) four times overnight policy rate (OPR) hike in 2022, says Public Gold executive chairman Wira…

Malaysian ringgit stronger after smaller US rate hike

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian ringgit appreciated against the US dollar Thursday morning following the United States (US) Federal Reserve’s (Fed) encouraging move to slow the pace of its interest rate hikes during its recent meeting.  At 9 am, the ringgit strengthened to 4.2280/2350 versus the greenback compared with 4.2655/2700 at Tuesday’s…

Bursa Malaysia rebounds on bargain hunting

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, rebounded from the strong broad-based sell-down on Tuesday to open higher this morning, supported by bargain hunting activities, a dealer said. At 9.05 am Thursday, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 5.93 points to 1,491.43  from Tuesday’s close of 1,485.50. The key…

India’s military expenditure goes up 13 per cent in new budget

NEW DELHI, Feb 2 (NNN-Bernama) — India’s military expenditure has gone up by 13 per cent in the national budget for financial year 2023-24 starting April. The government has allocated 5.93 trillion rupees for the defence sector compared with 5.25 trillion rupees in the 2022-23 budget. In terms of US dollars, military spending…

Saudi Arabia to host first ever Asian Cup in 2027

From Vikneswaran Raman MANAMA (Bahrain), Feb 2 (NNN-Bernama) — The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been given the green light to host the Asian Cup for the first time ever in 2027. Despite being one of the most successful teams in the continent, having won the Asian Cup three times (1984, 1988…

Shaikh Salman stays on as AFC boss, Malaysia’s Hamidin elected FIFA council member

From Vikneswaran Raman MANAMA (Bahrain), Feb 2 (NNN-Bernama) — The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) boss Shaikh Salman Ebrahim Al Khalifa retained his president’s post unopposed at the 33rd AFC Congress, held here Wednesday, as the Asian governing body met physically for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. The 57-year-old Bahrain royalty’s tenure for the…