07/01/2026

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | JAN 7, 2026

20

MARKETS/FROM THE BROKERS

SUNBIZ presents extracts of a selection of commentaries and research reports received from stockbrokers on counters that could be of interest to investors.

DISCLAIMER: The information is extracted from stockbrokers’ commentaries and research reports and do not represent the views or opinions of Sun Media Corporation Sdn Bhd. It is not a solicitation, recommendation or an offer to buy or sell the equities featured. Sun Media Corporation shall not be liable or responsible for any consequences resulting from usage of the information.

[ Compiled by SunBiz Team

SMEs back PM’s plans, seek transition readiness

THE ringgit ended higher against the US dollar yesterday, as markets reassessed the US-Venezuela episode as politically disruptive but economically contained, an analyst said. At 6pm, the local currency climbed to 4.0445/0495 versus the greenback from Monday’s close of 4.0695/0745. IPPFA Sdn Bhd’s director of investment strategy and country economist, Mohd Sedek Jantan, said that, given the situation, investors saw no meaningful spillover into global growth, energy supply, or financial conditions. “As the initial safe-haven bid for the dollar faded, US yields and the greenback lost their defensive premium, allowing high carry and high-beta currencies such as the ringgit to rebound. “The resulting divergence between a weaker US Dollar Index (DXY) and resilient Asian currencies signals a short-lived risk-off shock rather than the start of a sustained global deleveraging cycle,” he told Bernama. At the close, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies. It appreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.5865/5899 from 2.5932/5965 at Monday’s close, and strengthened vis-à vis the euro to 4.7373/7432 from 4.7540/7598, but weakened versus the British pound to 5.4742/4810 from 5.4706/4774. The local note traded mixed against Asean peers. It was up against the Philippine peso at 6.83/6.84 from 6.88/6.90 on Monday’s close, and rose versus the Thai baht to 12.9383/9592 from 12.9891/13.0109 previously. However, the ringgit was slightly lower vis-à-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 243.1/241.7 from 243.0/243.5 on Monday. Ringgit firmer as US-Venezuela tensions seen contained

Exchange Rates

FOREIGN CURRENCY

SELLING TT/OD

BUYING TT

BUYING OD

PETALING JAYA: The Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (Samenta) welcomes the swift and decisive interventions announced by the prime minister to alleviate the cost and compliance burden on the SMEs. Its national president Datuk William Ng said the government’s responsiveness demonstrates that it is listening to the ground and is acting to support the SMEs. The announced exemptions of SST on office rentals for new companies and SMEs with revenue below RM1.5 million, alongside the reduction of the rental SST rate to 6%, provide immediate liquidity relief for urban SMEs struggling with high overheads. Furthermore, the one-year postponement of e invoicing for companies with revenue up to RM5 million is a critical breathing space that prevents a total compliance burnout for the nation’s largest segment of employers. While these measures offer a much-needed reprieve, Samenta wishes to highlight that a postponement is not a cancellation. The structural challenges of the “Compliance Economy” remain. While the RM1.5 million ceiling is a strong start, Samenta encourages the government to consider a tiered approach for high-growth sectors where revenue is high but margins are razor thin, such as in retail and construction – and urge SMEs who fall under the threshold of both the e-invoicing and SST on rental not to lower their guards, but to use the period to prepare changes to their workforce, processes and systems. Samenta looks forward to working closely with the government to address these other compliance and cost issues and thanked the prime minister for his leadership in bridging the gap between much-needed reforms and the readiness of our SMEs.

1 US Dollar

4.1380 2.7850 3.2170 2.9960 4.8390 2.3960 3.2170 5.5900 5.2420 3.4390 59.4500 66.4100 53.5800 4.6700 0.0258 2.6560 42.1800 1.5300 7.1000 114.4100 111.1900 26.1300 1.4000 46.3600 13.7700 113.6900 N/A

3.9880 2.6690 3.1140 2.9090 4.6780 2.3050 3.1140 5.4080 5.0140 3.2100 56.8700 61.0400 50.8500 4.3400 0.0228 2.5310 38.7500 1.3700 6.6700 108.6100 105.5500 23.5900 1.2200 42.1700 12.2000 107.6700 N/A

3.9780 2.6530 3.1060 2.8970 4.6580 2.2890 3.1060 5.3880 4.9990

1 Australian Dollar 1 Brunei Dollar 1 Canadian Dollar 1 New Zealand Dollar 1 Singapore Dollar 1 Sterling Pound 1 Swiss Franc 100 UAE Dirham 100 Bangladesh Taka 100 Chinese Renminbi 100 Danish Krone 100 Hongkong Dollar 100 Indian Rupee 100 Indonesian Rupiah 100 Japanese Yen 100 New Taiwan Dollar 100 Norwegian Krone 100 Pakistan Rupee 100 Philippine Peso 1 Euro

107.4700 3.0100 60.8400 50.6500 4.1400 0.0178 2.5210 38.5500 1.1700 6.4700 108.4100 105.3500 23.3900 1.0200 41.9700 11.8000 N/A N/A

100 Qatar Riyal 100 Saudi Riyal

100 South Africa Rand 100 Sri Lanka Rupee 100 Swedish Krona

100 Thai Baht

Source: Malayan Banking Bhd/Bernama

Oil & Gas Neutral

Real Estate Overweight

Utilities – Renewable Energy Overweight

Source: PublicInvest Research

Source: RHB, Company data

Source: Respective Companies

DEMAND for property stays resilient and strong despite expanded Sales & Service Tax and targeted fuel subsidy implementation. 9M’25 aggregate property sales grew 11.4% YoY (Q3’25: +40% QoQ, +46% YoY). Stripping off the overseas contributions, 9M’25 sales still grew 1% YoY. Apart from the ramped-up launches from developers, the resilient numbers indicate that demand for property remains robust, especially after the implementation of the expanded SST and targeted fuel subsidy in 2H’25. A few key events in 2026 that could spur sentiment. These include the: i) Completion of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link by end 2026, ii) listing of Sunway Healthcare Group in Q1’26 and REIT listings for some developers, and iii) crystallisation of SDPR’s maiden DC facility at Elmina in Q3’26 and the positive progress made by Eco World Development Group for its Puncak Alam DC construction. Although these catalytic developments are not entirely new, the positive progress and imminent completion – hence their visibility – could be significant enough to uplift market confidence. The corporate exercises to be undertaken by major developers in 2026 could also be share price catalysts for these companies given value-unlocking and hence the potential “special” dividends (or dividends in specie) that shareholders could receive. Apart from SWB (to list Sunway Healthcare Group), there may be three other developers embarking on the listing of their investment properties, including SDPR and SP Setia. – RHB Research, Jan 6

OVER the weekend, US military conducted airstrikes in Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro. In a press statement, President Donald Trump said the US would “run”Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” could be ensured and signalled that American oil firms would be involved in refurbishing Venezuela’s degraded oil infrastructure. Venezuela’s oil sector has been in structural decline for over a decade, with production falling sharply from above 2.4MM bbl/d in 2013 to below 1.0MM bbl/d in recent years. The downturn began before US financial sanctions in 2017, driven by underinvestment following the 2014 oil price collapse, operational deterioration at Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A, loss of technical talent and rising debt burdens. These factors were also compounded by sanctions through restricting exports, diluent access and financing. Despite holding the world’s largest proven crude reserves, Venezuela remains a constrained producer, with any recovery highly contingent on capital inflows, operational reforms and geopolitical easing. Our sector view remains unchanged, as developments in South America are expected to have a limited direct impact on global oil fundamentals. In the near term, oil prices may temporarily price in heightened geopolitical risk sentiment, particularly around countries perceived to have close ties with Venezuela, such as Russia and China. For Malaysia, we see no change to earnings or capex assumptions across our oil & gas coverage, as domestic activity continues to be driven primarily by Petronas’ upstream spending discipline rather than external geopolitical developments. – PublicInvest Research, Jan 6

THE year-end Energy Regulatory Insight 2025 organised by Energy Commission Malaysia, featured dialogue sessions and insights into Malaysia’s evolving energy landscape and regulatory framework. It will focus on the following areas: a) tariff reform to align the electricity pricing framework with Malaysia’s energy roadmap, eg: introduction of the Automatic Fuel Adjustment mechanism, which will enable end-consumers to receive monthly rebates; b) address the depleting gas supply with regasification award; and c) eventual liberalisation of the electricity market. In 1H’26, the regulator may potentially review the self consumption (SELCO) and corporate renewable energy supply scheme (CRESS) requirement for minimum battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity. Currently, the SELCO scheme requires a BESS to carry a minimum of one hour full-load output of the solar PV system. Under the CRESS scheme, a BESS is required to have at least 50% of the RE export capacity and four hours of storage in order to qualify for “firm output”. The long-awaited Solar Accelerated Transition Action Programme sets out several key guidelines that are broadly in line with expectations. These include: a) excess energy to be sold to the grid – based on system marginal price vs one-for-one offset; b) being subject to a 10-year contract and conversion to a SELCO framework post-expiration; c) optional BESS installation with no minimal capacity; and d) residential installation capacity limited to 5kW for a single phase and 15kW for three phases. – HLIB Research, Jan 6