[Maybank IB] Today's Research - Malaysia

NEWS Outside Malaysia: Canada: Employment surge in March takes rate cut off table. Canadian employment rose faster than forecast in March on full-time work and a revival in oil- producing Alberta, a big step in erasing the chance the central bank will cut interest rates. Employment increased by 40,600 after falling 2,300 in February, Statistics Canada said. The jobless rate declined to 7.1% from 7.3%, the highest since March 2013. The job gain is another sign of stability before the Bank of Canada’s April 13 interest-rate decision, following heavy damage from low crude oil prices last year. (Source: Bloomberg) Brazil: Consumer inflation slows more than forecast in March as the impact of government-regulated price increases faded and a prolonged recession crippled Latin America’s largest economy. The benchmark IPCA consumer price index rose 0.43% from the previous month, following a 0.9% jump in February. Twelve-month inflation slowed to single-digits, reaching 9.39% YoY. (Source: Bloomberg) Crude Oil: Extends gains as U.S. rigs idled before Doha freeze talks. Oil extended gains after its biggest jump in almost two months on Friday as U.S. drillers idled more rigs ahead of talks between the world’s biggest suppliers about freezing output. Futures rose as much as 1.9% in New York after increasing 6.6% Friday, the biggest rise since Feb. 12. The number of active oil rigs in the U.S. dropped for the 15th time in 16 weeks to the lowest level since 2009, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website. Venezuela said the first step in the April 17 meeting in Doha between producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia should be to freeze output levels. (Source: Bloomberg) Other news: Sona Petroleum: Going all out to get shareholders’ nod for QA buy. The QA it is trying to get shareholders to approve is the Stag oilfield assets in Western Australia. It proposes to acquire a 100% stake in Stag from Quadrant Northwest Pty Ldt and Santons Offshore Pty Ltd for USD25m (MYR98m). As a recap, Sona has until July 30 this year to complete its QA. It was lited on July 30, 2013. (Source: The Edge Financial Daily) Engtex: Resilient demand from infra jobs heralds better FY16. Steel and ductile iron piping supplier cum distributor, which has seen its earnings sliding for past two financial years, expects to see better results in FY16, as it expects resilient demand from the infrastructure market to lift its earnings. Engtex said new orders come in every month and it has managed to replenish its order book monthly, and maintain its tally at around MYR95m. (Source: The Edge Financial Daily)