20/10/2026

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | OCT 20, 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

Automotive TIV up 19% to 69,609 units last month, says MAA

THE ringgit closed higher against a basket of major currencies yesterday, supported by Malaysia’s latest economic data, although it slipped versus the US dollar. At 6pm, the ringgit dropped to 4.0805/0845 against the greenback from last Friday’s close of 4.0795/0835. Earlier yesterday, the Department of Statistics Malaysia reported that Malaysia’s inflation eased to 1.8 per cent in September 2026 from 1.9 per cent in the previous month, while total trade surged 53.7 per cent to RM396.5 billion from RM258.1 billion a year earlier. Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit remained resilient in the face of external challenges, especially after global index provider MSCI said it was considering downgrading Indonesia’s stock market from “emerging market” to “standalone market.” “The possible two-step downgrade from Emerging Market to Stand Alone status has led to the depreciation of the rupiah to more than 18,000 rupiah per US dollar while Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) fell 3.57 per cent to 5,000.175 points. “Thus far, the impact to regional currencies is fairly contained and it is localised,” he told Bernama. Hence, he said, the US dollar/ringgit was hovering within a narrow range of RM4.0788 to RM4.0828. At the close, the ringgit increased versus the Japanese yen to 2.5790/5817 from 2.5831/5895 at last Friday’s close, strengthened against the euro to 4.5726/5771 from 4.5911/5956 previously, and inched up vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.4369/4422 from 5.4396/4449. The local note gained against the Indonesian rupiah to 226.0/226.4 from 226.3/226.6 last Friday and edged up vis-a-vis the Philippine peso to 6.47/6.48 from 6.48/6.49. Ringgit ends higher against major currencies

Exchange Rates

FOREIGN CURRENCY

SELLING TT/OD

BUYING TT

BUYING OD

1 US Dollar

4.1530 2.9020 3.2390 2.9320 4.6560 2.3520 3.2390 5.5280 5.0570 3.4200 62.3700 63.8400 53.3400 4.4600 0.0241 2.6470 45.0900 1.5600 6.6800 114.8600 111.5600 26.0700 1.3200 43.0900 12.9500 114.0900 N/A

4.0050 2.7830 3.1360 2.8480 4.5020 2.2640 3.1360 5.3500 4.8390 3.1850 59.6900 58.7100 50.6500 4.1400 0.0213 2.5240 41.4500 1.3900 6.2800 109.0400 105.9100 23.5400 1.1500 39.2200 11.4700 108.1200 N/A

3.9950 2.7670 3.1280 2.8360 4.4820 2.2480 3.1280 5.3300 4.8240

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

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s automotive total industry volume (TIV) increased 19 per cent to 69,609 units in September 2026 from 58,490 units in the same month last year. For the first nine months of 2026, TIV increased by four per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 602,633 units from 579,336 units previously. The sales momentum slowed down in September 2026, with volume falling 2.5 per cent to 69,609 units compared to 71,428 units in August this year. In a statement yesterday, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) attributed this decline to consumers adopting a wait-and-see approach ahead of the National Budget announcement. The Malaysian Automotive Association said sales of passenger vehicles rose 22 per cent y-o-y to 64,835 units in September 2026 from 53,352 units a year earlier, while commercial vehicle sales declined seven per cent to 4,774 units from 5,138 units previously. Meanwhile, production rose by 10 per cent y-o-y to 64,482 units from 58,413 units previously, it said. Production of passenger vehicles rose 12 per cent to 61,134 units from 54,738 units in September 2025, while commercial vehicles decreased nine per cent to 3,348 units from 3,675 units in the same month last year. For this month, MAA expects sales to pick up due to year-end promotions. – Bernama

107.9200 2.9850 58.5100 50.4500 3.9400 0.0163 2.5140 41.2500 1.1900 6.0800 108.8400 105.7100 23.3400 0.9500 39.0200 11.0700 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

Automotive Sector Neutral

Energy Sector Overweight

Plantation Sector Neutral

Source: JPJ, TA Research

Source: MPOB, Phillip Capital Research

Source: Company data, RHB Research

WE expect energy demand from data centres (DCs) to drive earnings growth and news flow in 4Q26. The recent 10% cut in system access charges (SAC) should accelerate the signing of Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) agreements in the coming months. We see potential for independent power producers (IPP) to secure new gas plants under the NEWGEN26 tender and build captive power plants (CPP). For the 1H26 period, TNB signed five new energy supply agreements (ESA) with DCs for a total 856MW capacity. To date, TNB had signed up 8.4GW of ESAs, and completed 5.7GW capacity (+61% YoY). The group is targeting to sign up 10 ESAs this year of up to 1.5GW capacity. This is expected to drive the 5 6% electricity sales growth demand annually. We expect the Government to introduce a separate Automatic Fuel Adjustment (AFA) rate for DCs in Jan 2027, to alleviate the impact of higher fuel costs on residential customers. We expect NEWGEN26 tender winners to be announced by year-end. According to reports, the Energy Commission (EC) had received four bids with a combined 3.6GW capacity. We believe players with reserved turbines (ie TNB, YTL Power) are likely to emerge winners in the tender. Assuming TNB and YTL Power win the bids, we estimate a potential 2% and 4% upside to our TPs. We also do not discount these players allocating the turbines to build CPPs to supply off-grid energy directly to DCs. TNB recently signed an agreement to potentially supply 1.5GW of electricity to DayOne. We believe any generation projects in this agreement could come under the CRESS and/or CPPs structure. Maintain OVERWEIGHT on sector. – RHB Research, Oct 19

BYD Malaysia has appointed Inokom Corporation Sdn Bhd as its local CKD assembly partner, following the signing of an MoU in Shenzhen on 15 Oct 2026. This comes after BYD decided not to proceed with its earlier plan to build a manufacturing plant in Tanjong Malim, Perak. Details on the models to be assembled, production volumes and assembly fees have yet to be announced. We believe this is a more practical approach for BYD, as it can leverage Inokom’s existing facilities, experienced workforce and established supply chain instead of building a new plant from scratch. This could shorten the time needed to commence local assembly while reducing upfront investment costs. According to MITI’s clarification on 31 March 2026, the additional manufacturing-licence conditions introduced since Sep 2025 do not apply to projects using existing local assembly facilities. Under BYD’s original Tanjong Malim proposal, domestic sales were limited to 20% of planned production (10k units), with the remaining 80% intended for exports and a minimum on-the-road price of RM100k for locally sold vehicles. By partnering with Inokom, BYD may no longer be subject to the same domestic sales restrictions, although the new approval terms have yet to be confirmed. We believe this could be a key advantage, allowing BYD to focus more on the Malaysian market without committing substantial investment to a new factory. It could also encourage other foreign carmakers to consider existing CKD assemblers rather than building their own plants. Based on the latest JPJ registration data, Malaysia’s EV market continues to grow strongly, with registrations nearly doubling to 53.5k units in 9M2026 from 26.9k units a year ago (+98.8% YoY). Maintain NEUTRAL on the sector. – TA Research, Oct 19

WE view Sawit EcoTherm as strategically positive for Malaysia’s PO industry, but not a nearterm game changer for CPO demand and price. Developed by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Sawit EcoTherm is a palm-derived, non-conductive immersion-cooling fluid designed for high-density data centres (DC). Our key takeaway is “value over volume” where opportunity lies in converting PO into higher-value chemical and speciality-fluid applications rather than increasing bulk CPO consumption. Based on preliminary assessment during our visit to MPOB’s R&D unit, a 100MW DC could require 0.8-1.5m litres of cooling fluid, equivalent to 800-1,500 tonnes of fluid, assuming a density of c.1kg/litre. Applying a 90-95% processing yield, this implies 0.76 1.50k tonnes of CPO equivalent feedstock for the initial fill. On this basis, if the entire 4.6GW of Malaysia’s planned/under construction DC capacity were eventually converted to palm based immersion cooling, the implied initial CPO equivalent requirement would be 35-69k tonnes, or less than 0.4% of Malaysia’s annual CPO production. Note that these figures represent initial system filling rather than annual consumption. Malaysia’s rapidly expanding DC ecosystem offers a potential domestic test platform for Sawit EcoTherm. MIDA reported RM386bn in cumulative DC-related investments from 2021 to 1H26, with c.4.6GW of capacity planned or under construction. Rising AI workloads are also increasing demand for efficient liquid based cooling, as higher-performance GPUs generate substantially more heat than conventional servers. This creates a potential cross-sector linkage between Malaysia’s PO and DC industries. Maintain NEUTRAL on the sector. – Phillip Capital Research, Oct 19