Intel heads into its April 23 earnings with rising investor expectations , but the key question remains whether AI-driven CPU demand can offset ongoing margin weakness . Revenue Stable, But Margins Under Pressure Intel is expected to deliver Q1 revenue around US$12.4 billion , slightly above the midpoint of its guidance range. However, the real concern lies in profitability: Gross margin guided at 34.5% , down from 39.2% a year ago EPS near breakeven (~US$0.00) vs US$0.13 last year This highlights continued pressure from costs, utilisation, and product mix , despite improving demand signals. AI CPUs: A Key Growth Driver Intel’s near-term bullish case centers on AI-related CPU demand , particularly its Xeon processors. A key development is its partnership with Alphabet , which reinforces: Intel’s role in AI data centre infrastructure Growing demand for AI inference and general-purpose computing Investors will watch c...
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 8): The FBM KLCI ended up 0.4 point or 0.02% at 1,609.73 today after paring gains shortly following a spike in the final trading hour.
The KLCI spike followed Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) announcement that the statutory reserve requirement (SRR) ratio for banks will be lowered from 3.5% to 3% effective from Nov 16.
BNM said today in a statement the move aims to maintain sufficient liquidity in the domestic financial system. At Bursa Malaysia, the KLCI spiked to its intraday high at 1,614.19 in the final trading hour after falling to its intraday low at 1,606.02.
Analysts said banking shares reacted positively to the news as a lower SRR ratio means financial insitutions will have more money to lend to borrowers.
Nomura head of equity research for Malaysia Tushar Mohata told theedgemarkets.com the KLCI was boosted at the 11th hour mainly by banks' share price rise.
The list includes KLCI-linked banks Public Bank Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.
“The slight pick up seen in the KLCI today was due to BNM cutting the SRR ratio from 3.5% to 3%,” the analyst said.
At Bursa, a late jump in Public Bank's share price, helped the stock reach its intraday high of RM20.20. At the 5pm market close, Public Bank pared gains at RM19.94 for an eight sen or 0.4% rise.
Across Bursa, turnover stood at 3.11 billion shares worth RM2.15 billion. Top gainers included VSTECS Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd as world markets took cue from the status of US-China trade talks.
Reuters reported that Asian stocks retreated from six-month highs on Friday as conflicting signals from China and the US on progress made in trade talks deflated market hopes of a near term truce to end their damaging tariff war.
It was reported that Friday's market moves contrast with Thursday's surge of optimism in global markets on news Beijing and China have agreed to roll back tariffs on each others' goods as part of the first phase of a trade deal.
"Multiple sources familiar with the talks said the plan faced fierce internal opposition at the White House and from outside advisers. Worries the pact could fall apart as there was still no specific agreement for a phased rollback prompted some investors to sell heading into the weekend," Reuters reported.
Source: The Edge
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