Foreign holdings in Malaysian bonds fall

KUALA LUMPUR • Foreign ownership of Malaysian government bonds dropped in September for the first time in 12 months, with the outflows likely to have been triggered largely by debt maturities.

Overseas holdings decreased 0.4 per cent to RM213 billion (S$70.5 billion), after climbing to a record in August, according to central bank data released yesterday.

Sovereign notes worth RM19.7 billion matured last month, according to Maybank Investment Bank.

Malaysian government bonds have rallied over the past year, benefiting from a global yield hunt in an environment where almost US$12 trillion (S$16.5 trillion) of investment- grade debt offers sub-zero yields. The yield on Malaysia's benchmark five-year notes has retreated 42 basis points in the past 12 months and reached the lowest level since May 2013 last month.

BLOOMBERG

Dip in China's service sector growth: Poll

BEIJING • China's service sector created jobs at the fastest pace in seven months in September as new business picked up, even though the overall rate of growth was little changed from August, a private survey showed.

More signs of stability in China's economy support the growing consensus that China's central bank will hold off on further monetary easing such as interest rate cuts through at least the end of the year.

The Caixin/Markit service purchasing managers' index dipped to 52.0 last month on a seasonally adjusted basis from 52.1 in August, but remained well above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.

Service firms saw modest growth in new work last month.

REUTERS