Good morning! Morning Minutes is a round-up of stories that will break on Wednesday, Sept 7, and which we think you'd be interested in.

It appears on weekdays, available by 7am.

September's first open bidding exercise for COE

The tender results of September's first open bidding exercise for certificates of entitlement (COEs) are expected later on Wednesday (Sept 7). The tender opened on Monday (Sept 5).

At the close of the previous tender last month, COE premiums showed marginal movements. The COE premium for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp went up by 1.6 per cent to $53,334. But premiums for bigger cars - those above 1,600cc or 130bhp - dipped by 2.4 per cent to $56,500.

Second day of Asean summits

A new round of Asean summits enters the second day in Laos on Wednesday (Sept 7), with 10 leaders of the grouping scheduled to meet their counterparts from the East Asia Summit, which includes China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States.

The focus will be on cooperation between Asean and the dialogue partners. China has said that it will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the dialogue relationship with Asean today, pledging to deepen cooperation between the two parties.

Malaysia bank rates expected to remain unchanged

Malaysia's central bank is expected to keep its benchmark rate unchanged on Wednesday (Sept 7), as the country's economy is seen to be coping with global market volatility in the wake of Britain's June Brexit vote.

Less than two weeks after the vote, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) made its first rate cut in seven years, slashing the overnight policy rate by 25 basis points to 3.00 per cent.

Economists forecast no change to the rate this time around as exports and domestic consumption remained resilient despite worries about the global economy.

China to release foreign exchange reserves data for August

China will release its foreign exchange reserves data for August on Wednesday (Sept 7), which, analysts say, have likely dipped to US$3.19 trillion (S$4.33 trillion) after falling slightly in July.

China's reserves have stabilised in the last few months despite downward pressure on the yuan, as analysts say the government has been successful with measures to limit capital outflows.