FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

Malaysia's Headline Inflation Quickens to 1.9% in August

By

Malaysia's headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.9% year over year in August, according to data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia released Friday.

The reading beat the consensus forecast of 1.8% growth tracked by Investing.com and compared with a 1.8% expansion recorded in the previous month.

The headline movement was driven by the transport sector, rising 2% in August from 1.4% in July. Personal care items also grew 3.2% from a 2.9% increase in the previous month.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile items, edged down to 1.7% from 1.8% the previous month.

On a month-over-month basis, Malaysia's headline CPI edged up 0.3% in August. It remained flat in July.

What else is happening in Asia?

Asia

Japan Hotel REIT Investment Secures New Term Loans

Japan Hotel REIT Investment (TYO:8985) has secured a new term loan amounting to 4.9 billion yen, according to a Tokyo bourse filing on Thursday.The unsecured loan has an interest rate of 0.30% on top of a base rate and maturity date of Sept. 28, 2029.Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, Mizuho Bank and MUFG Bank were the lenders.The REIT will use the loan to partially fund the capital expenditures for renovation of Hilton Tokyo Odaiba.In addition, the company undertook two unsecured term loans worth 4.25 billion yen and 700 million yen, respectively, to refinance existing loans due on Sept. 30.Both loans have interest rates of 0.45% on top of a base rate and maturity date of Sept. 30, 2032.Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, Mizuho Bank, SBI Shinsei Bank and Resona Bank were the lenders for the 4.25 billion yen green loan, while MUFG Bank, Aozora Bank and Kansai Bank were the syndicate for the 700 million yen borrowing.

TYO:8985
Asia

Tamawood Declares Dividend

Tamawood (ASX:TWD) declared a dividend of AU$0.105 per share for the six months ended June 30, according to a Friday filing with the Australian bourse.The dividend will be paid on Dec. 11 to shareholders on record as of Nov. 20, per the filing.The company paid the same dividend in the prior corresponding period, an earlier filing showed.

ASX:TWD
Asia

Lefroy Exploration Expands Western Australia Project Scoping Study

Lefroy Exploration (ASX:LEX) said it is actively assessing the opportunity to expand the scoping study for its Mt Martin gold project in Western Australia to incorporate the high-grade portion of the nearby Burns gold deposit, according to a Friday Australian bourse filing.The delivery of the scoping study is now scheduled for the early December quarter, while the review of the Burns deposit high-grade resource is also targeted for completion at the same time, the filing added.At the Lucky Strike project, part of the Lefroy gold project in Western Australia, Miscellaneous License L25/71 has been fully granted following the execution of a Heritage agreement, securing critical haulage and utility corridors, with a heritage survey to be undertaken in mid-October to clear the second dewatering corridor, the company added.

ASX:LEX