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Free Malaysia Today
10-07-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Malaysia's AI-led stock rally falters in face of trade risks
While Malaysia has secured billions of dollars in pledged investments for its AI infrastructure, equity investors have turned cautious as Washington ramps up efforts to crack down on suspected semiconductor smuggling into China. (Pixabay pic) KUALA LUMPUR : An artificial intelligence-led rally that helped Malaysian stocks outperform regional peers last year is fast unravelling, with escalating trade risks seen to further dampen the market's appeal. Concerns are growing over the potential fallout from a US plan to restrict AI chip exports, which may undermine the country's burgeoning data centre sector. Sentiment has also soured, with growth prospects clouded after president Donald Trump threatened to impose a higher tariff of 25% on Malaysia. That's weighed on the benchmark index, making it the worst-performing market in Southeast Asia after Thailand. Analysts from UOB Kay Hian have lowered their year-end forecast for the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gauge twice this year to 1,620 compared to an initial estimate of 1,800 at the start of 2025. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase & Co is expecting the measure to be little changed from Wednesday's close of 1,529.24. 'The overall market has been hampered by uncertainties on AI, data centre feasibilities, largely brought about by the US AI Diffusion framework and the prominence of Deepseek,' said Syhiful Zamri, chief investment officer of Maybank Asset Management Sdn. That's also weakened sentiment toward related sectors, he added. While Malaysia has secured billions of dollars in pledged investments for its AI infrastructure, equity investors have turned cautious as Washington ramps up efforts to crack down on suspected semiconductor smuggling into China. Chip sales to the Southeast Asian country are a focal point of a court case involving the defrauding of customers about the ultimate destination of AI servers. The gloomy outlook is a sea change from optimism in the market at the start of the year. Outflows from local stocks have widened, with foreigners withdrawing a net US$2.7 billion so far in 2025, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. That compares to a net selling of US$942 million for the whole of 2024. Potential levies on chip imports will also weigh on the economy, given that the US is Malaysia's third-largest market for semiconductor exports. Trump has also threatened an additional 10% tariff on any country aligning themselves with BRICS grouping of emerging-market economies. 'There's a tremendous amount of investor fatigue because of issues that investors did not anticipate,' said Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, head of consumer and internet at Aletheia Capital. Among other headwinds include the rise of cheaper AI models like DeepSeek, which has raised doubts over the need for large and rapid investments into data centres. Locally, a steep hike in power tariff is also expected to lift operating costs by 10% to 14% for large-scale operators, according to BMI Research. That may prompt tech giants to redirect investments to lower-cost markets like Indonesia and Thailand. The KLCI gauge has declined 7% in 2025. Data centre-related stocks that were top performers last year, including YTL Corp and Tenaga Nasional Bhd, are among the biggest decliners on the gauge this year. To some, the sell-off in Malaysian stocks may be overdone. Demand for data centres remains strong and the market is poised to benefit from any recovery in the segment. 'We took profit initially late in 2024 and early 2025, but after the sell-off, we bought back and doubled down,' said Chun Hong Lee, portfolio manager at Principal Asset Management. Still, slowing economic growth may deter further inflows. The government is looking to revise downward this year's 4.5% to 5.5% projection on tariff risks. Investors are likely to 'take a step back until they can see more certainty in terms of development in the US and how they deal with the restrictions', said Danny Wong, CEO at Areca Capital.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UAE firm G42 plans $2 billion hyperscale data centre in Vietnam
HANOI (Reuters) -The Abu Dhabi state-backed firm G42 plans to partner with Vietnamese companies to develop a $2 billion hyperscale data centre in Vietnam's business hub Ho Chi Minh City, state media reported on Thursday. The local partners include FPT Corp., investment firm VinaCapital and Viet Thai Group, the official Vietnam News Agency reported. Authorities in the city are seeking opinions from the Prime Minister on the project, the report said, without giving a timeframe for the development of the centre. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNA
09-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Morocco to build data centre powered by renewable energy
RABAT :Morocco plans to build a 500 megawatt data centre powered by renewable energy to strengthen security of data storage, its digital transition minister said. The centre will be located in Dakhla, in Western Sahara, Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni told Reuters, without giving details on the timeline or cost. Several countries are building such centres to ensure that sensitive data can be stored and processed within national borders. These centres can be owned or operated by state-owned or private companies while ensuring that data remains under the legal jurisdiction of the host country. Morocco launched its first such centre at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. It has been offering cloud hosting services to local public and private organisations, since January. "Through this network of data centres, the kingdom not only asserts its digital sovereignty, but also its ambition to become a regional digital hub serving Africa,' Seghrouchni said. Morocco plans to invest 11 billion dirhams ($1.22 billion) on its digital modernisation strategy over 2024-2026, which includes artificial intelligence and expanding fibre optic deployment.
Zawya
09-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Morocco to build data centre powered by renewable energy
Morocco plans to build a 500 megawatt state-owned data centre powered by renewable energy to strengthen security of data storage, its digital transition minister said. The centre will be located in Dakhla, in Western Sahara, Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni told Reuters, without giving details on the timeline or cost. Several countries are building state-owned data centres to ensure that sensitive data can be stored and processed within national borders. Morocco launched its first soveriegn centre in January at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. It has been offering cloud hosting services to local public and private organisations. "Through this network of data centres, the kingdom not only asserts its digital sovereignty, but also its ambition to become a regional digital hub serving Africa,' Seghrouchni said. Morocco plans to invest 11 billion dirhams ($1.22 billion) on its digital modernisation strategy over 2024-2026, which includes artificial intelligence and expanding fibre optic deployment. (Reporting by Ahmed El Jechtimi. Editing by Alexander Dziadosz and Mark Potter)
Zawya
09-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Saudi Arabia's MIS signs framework deal to add 112 MW to data centre capacity
Saudi-listed Al Moammar Information Systems Company (MIS) announced on Wednesday that it has signed a framework agreement with Saudi Data Centre Fund 1, represented by Saudi Fransi Capital, to expand existing data centre infrastructure with up to 112 megawatts (MW) of additional capacity. MIS was awarded a design-build contract for the initial 32 MW capacity currently under development and is also acting as facility manager for these sites, it said in a stock exchange statement. The statement said contract duration for the expansion project is 36 months, adding that the value of the agreement will be determined upon receipt of development notices from the Fund. Past stock exchange notices from MIS have stated that it is the exclusive leasing agent and the facilities manager for the six data centres owned by Saudi Data Centre Fund 1. (Editing by Anoop Menon) (
