Ringgit weakens to over 20-year low of 2.8538 against Singdollar

[SINGAPORE] The Malaysian ringgit lost further ground against the Singapore dollar on Wednesday, trading at 2.8538 to the Singdollar at about 1:35pm, down from its close at 2.82 on Tuesday.

This is the weakest that the ringgit has been against the Singdollar on record. China's surprise devaluation of the yuan this week has lumped more pressure on the ringgit, Asia's worst-performing currency in the past 12 months.

Brent crude prices that have more than halved from their 2014 peak are hurting Malaysia's revenue as a net oil exporter.

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Malaysia: Shares end lower on Wednesday

MALAYSIAN shares ended lower on Wednesday with the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index slipping 26.78 points to close at 1,609.93.

Some 2.49 billion lots, valued at RM2.29 billion were traded. Gainers numbered just 96 while losers numbered 973.

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Malaysia's Hong Leong Bank plans up to US$757m rights issue: sources

[KUALA LUMPUR] Hong Leong Bank Bhd is planning to raise up to 3 billion ringgit (S$1.06 billion) in rights issues this year to strengthen its capital, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The bank, Malaysia's fifth largest by assets, is the last of its peers to bolster its capital to meet more stringent central bank requirements under the global Basel III framework, the sources said.

Analysts had earlier said Hong Leong Bank's core capital, measured by its common equity tier 1 ratio, was one of the lowest among local banks at 8.1 per cent and that the bank was seeking to increase that level to at least 10 per cent.

A Hong Leong spokeswoman did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The sources declined to be identified as the matter remained confidential

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Malaysia says Middle East donors gave Najib about US$700 million

[KUALA LUMPUR] The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said RM2.6 billion (S$927 million) that ended up in Prime Minister Najib Razak's personal accounts were from donors in the Middle East.

The contributors confirmed their donations after the anti-graft agency traced them through documents seized from banks, it said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. The MACC said it won't disclose the identities of the donors and plans to question Mr Najib to seek an explanation on the funds.

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Ringgit weakens most in Asia as psychological reserves mark eyed

[KUALA LUMPUR] The ringgit weakened the most in Asia on concern Malaysia's foreign-exchange reserves dropped to the lowest level since the 2008 global credit crunch, reducing ammunition to defend the region's worst-performing currency.

The holdings declined 13 per cent this year to US$100.5 billion amid a 10 per cent plunge in the ringgit, fueling speculation Bank Negara Malaysia intervened by buying the currency. A slump in oil, a political scandal involving Prime Minister Najib Razak and the prospect of higher US interest rates have sent the ringgit to a 17-year low. Figures for the two weeks to July 31 are due on Friday.

"The market is probably getting nervous because reserves are expected to fall below the psychological US$100 billion mark given that Bank Negara is seen to be intervening to smooth out volatility in recent sessions," said Nizam Idris, the Singapore-based head of foreign-exchange and fixed-income strategy at Macquarie Bank Ltd. The second-most accurate forecaster for the ringgit in the four quarters through June in Bloomberg rankings predicts they may come in at US$96.5 billion.

The currency declined 0.3 per cent at 3.8905 a dollar as of 12:13 pm in Kuala Lumpur, prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg show. It earlier fell as much as 0.5 per cent to 3.8948, the lowest since September 1998 when it reached 3.9340.

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