http://www.btimes.com.my en Tuesday, February 09, 2010, 10.24 PM http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/09mny/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/09mny/Article/ Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:01:46 +0800 RINGGIT RINGGIT closed higher against the US dollar yesterday with investors shifting to riskier assets due to worries in the eurozone and lingering concerns about a global tax on banks. At 5pm, the local unit was traded at 3.4380/4430 against the US dollar, compared with last Friday's close of 3.4420/4460. Markets were worried that problems in Greece, Portugal and other weaker eurozone states could upset or derail the still fragile global economic recovery, said a dealer. "The situation in overseas markets remains unclear," he said. The US dollar also saw a sell-off as traders awaited the release of Federal Reserve plans to unwind stimulus tomorrow. The ringgit also rose against the Singapore dollar to 2.4174/4229 from Friday's close of 2.4205/4240 but eased against the Japanese yen to 3.8396/8474 from 3.8372/8434. The ringgit was firmer against the euro at 5.3695/3787 compared with 5.4002/4082 and rose against the British pound to 4.7101/7179 from 4.7128/7190. INTERBANK RATES SHORT-TERM interbank rates closed stable yesterday as Bank Negara Malaysia actively intervened by issuing several money market tenders to keep rates in check, dealers said. At the 11am fixing, the overnight rate was quoted at 2.0 per cent while the one-week, two-week and three-week rates hovered between 2.02 and 2.05 per cent. The total liquidity surplus in the conventional system decreased to RM22.06 billion from RM27.08 billion estimated earlier. For Islamic funds, the total liquidity surplus declined to RM8.53 billion from an earlier estimate of RM13.40 billion. The central bank conducted a late conventional tender for RM22 billion one-day money and a RM8.5 billion Al-Wadiah tender for one-day money. KLIBOR THE three-month Kuala Lumpur Interbank Offered Rate futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives were dominated by strip trades yesterday. Strip trades of 80 lots each were recorded for 19 contract months, involving February 2010, March 2010, June 2010, December 2010 to Dec 2014. There were also outright transactions involving the contract month of June 2010 which declined one tick to settle at 97.42, with 290 lots traded. Yesterday's volume stood at 1,810 lots and open interest was at 35,250 contracts. The underlying three-month KLIBOR stood at 2.22 per cent. Meanwhile, the five-year Malaysia Government Securities futures were untraded throughout the day. - Bernama http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/09cmdty/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/09cmdty/Article/ Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:02:28 +0800 CPO FUTURES CRUDE palm oil futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed firmer yesterday, supported by the uptrend on soyoil and crude oil prices, dealers said. The gain was also supported by higher demand in the local market but the production level was lower, they said. Investors were also waiting for the cargo surveyors' palm export data, which is scheduled to be released tomorrow, the dealers said. At yesterday's close, the February 2010 contract gained RM35 to RM2,560 per tonne, March 2010 increased RM24 to RM2,554 per tonne, April 2010 added RM29 to RM2,550 per tonne and May 2010 was RM26 higher at RM2,545 per tonne. Turnover, however, declined to 13,069 lots from 15,644 lots last Friday while open interest rose to 76,779 contracts from 74,744 contracts previously. On the physical market, February South rose to RM2,575 per tonne from RM2,530 per tonne last Friday. RUBBER MALAYSIAN rubber prices closed lower yesterday in a quiet market, in line with the weak regional sentiment, dealers said. They also said most market players were absent, ahead of the forthcoming Chinese New Year holiday . At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board's official physical price for SMR 20 fell seven sen to 997.5 sen per kg from last Friday's 1,004.50 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk declined nine sen to 686.5 sen per kg from 695.50 sen per kg previously. The unofficial sellers' closing price for SMR 20 dropped four sen to 995.5 sen per kg from 999.50 sen per kg last Friday while latex-in-bulk went down three sen to 691.5 sen per kg from 694.50 sen per kg previously. TIN THE Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) closed sharply lower yesterday by US$905 (US$1.00 = RM3.44) to settle at US$15,395 per tonne on a lack of interest, a dealer said. The downtrend, he added, was also in line with the loss on the London Metal Exchange (LME), which saw the tin price drop markedly by US$700 to US$15,500 per tonne. The KLTM turnover was at 35 tonnes, lower than last Friday's 45 tonnes. The dealer said the market traded easier with less demand coming from Japanese, European and local traders. At the opening level, bids totalled five tonnes with offers of 100 tonnes. The price differential between the KLTM and the LME widened to a premium of US$230 per tonne compared to US$425 per tonne last Friday. - Bernama http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/sasah/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/sasah/Article/ Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:58:32 +0800 The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) declined 12.68 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 1,235.22 after opening 0.09 point lower at 1,247.81. Dealers said the bearish sentiment was aggravated by rising sovereign debt woes in Europe and weaker regional markets. Maybank Investment Bank Bhd said the market could head downwards towards its support level on further pre-Chinese New Year squaring activities. Its head of retail research Lee Cheng Hooi believed the Year of the Tiger would bring about nasty surprises for the local equity market, which was grossly overbought. "Do bear in mind that 1986 and 1998 brought about crisis low prices for the FBM KLCI. This year (2010) is the Year of the Tiger too and it would be synonymous with the historical 1986 and 1998 cycle lows for the FBM KLCI," he said. The Finance Index plumetted 167.171 points to 10,775.56, the Industrial Index lost 14.5 points to 2,561.18 and the Plantation Index fell 18.93 points to 6,130.12. The FBM Emas Index plunged 85.91 points to 8,319.62, the FBM70 Index gave up 59.9 points to 8,180.78 and the FBM Ace Index wiped out 50.78 points to 4,263.85. Decliners led advancers 608 to 119 while 214 counters were unchanged, 386 untraded and 25 others weresuspended. Volume fell to 769.13 million shares, valued at RM1.32 billion, from 918.22 million shares, worth RM1.52 billion, last Friday. Of heavyweights, Sime Darby lost 5 sen to RM8.31, Maybank slipped 9 sen to RM6.72, CIMB Group declined 20 sen to RM12.22 and Maxis eased 3 sen to RM5.33. Among actives, KNM Group declined 3 sen to 78.5 sen, Malaysian Res Corp decreased 4 sen to 13 sen but ETI Tech rose 1.5 sen to 46 sen and Talam lost half-a-sen to 11.5 sen. Meanwhile, FBM KLCI futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended lower in line with a weaker cash market, dealers said. The spot February and June contracts fell 10.5 points each to 1,233.0 and 1,227.5 respectively. March and September lost 10.0 points to 1,230.0 and 1,225.5 respectively. Turnover was higher at 7,656 lots compared to the 6,860 lots last Friday, while open interests rose to 18,172 contracts from 17,165 contracts previously. - Bernama http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/pppi/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/pppi/Article/ Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:05:17 +0800 SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia continued to consolidate their recent gains in unison with the weaknesses on the regional stock markets yesterday. Overall declining counters overwhelmed advancing counters by 608 to 119. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) fell from its intra-day high of 1,247.88 to its intra-day low of 1,234.59, closing at 1,235.22 points, giving a day-on-day loss of 12.68 points, or 1.02 per cent. PPB Group Bhd staged a technical pullback yesterday. Its daily price trend closed at RM15.38, giving a day-on-day loss of 30 sen, or 1.91 per cent. Chartwise, PPB's daily price trend rose from its low of RM15.08 on October 29 2009 all the way up to its intra-day high of RM16.94 on January 21 2010, posting a gain of RM1.86, or 12.33 per cent. Its hourly price trend staged a technical breakdown of its intermediate-term downside support (B3:B4) yesterday. Its hourly fast MACD (moving average convergence divergence) continued to stay below its hourly slow MACD. Both its hourly fast and slow MACDs continued to stay below their respective neutral reference lines. PPB's hourly price trend is likely to stage a follow-through technical pullback. The subject expressed above is based on technical analysis and opinions of the writer. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell. http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/singapore09/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/singapore09/Article/ Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:58:35 +0800 THE stock market here bucked the regional trend to close higher yesterday. The benchmark Straits Times Index ended up 0.37 per cent, or 10.06 points, at 2,693.62. "Sentiment (in the region) is very weak," said a Singapore-based analyst. "I think there will be more downside than upside in the next few days." - Reuters http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/hongkong09/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/hongkong09/Article/ Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:58:15 +0800 SHARES shed 0.58 per cent yesterday as fears over debt problems in Europe weighed on investors for a second successive session. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dived 114.19 points to end at 19,550.89. Investors in Hong Kong and on the mainland remain cautious ahead of the Lunar New Year break and China's January inflation data scheduled to be issued later week, traders said. - AFP http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/asian09/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/asian09/Article/ Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:57:53 +0800 HONG KONG: Concerns over Europe's debt woes continued to weigh on most Asian markets yesterday while weaker-than-expected US jobs data also led to fears over the pace of recovery in the world's biggest economy. Fears have grown that debt-ridden countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal may be unable to restore stability to their public finances, having spent heavily to combat recession during the global meltdown. Dealers in Asia were unimpressed by remarks from eurozone finance officials at G7 talks in Canada on Greece's efforts to cut its public debt of more than ¤294 billion. In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended 1.05 per cent, or 105.27 points, lower at 9,951.82, the first time it has been below 10,000 since December 10. Toyota extended its recent losses as it reels from a series of safety issues. The carmaker dropped 1.05 per cent to 3,280 yen, , having plunged from above 4,000 yen in just a few weeks due to a series of safety issues. "I am not surprised that investors are buying Toyota shares on dips," said one trader. Seoul finished 0.91 per cent, or 14.33 points, lower at 1552.79. However, profit-taking following Friday's heavy losses helped some markets to claw back some ground. They also got a slight lift from a late run on Wall Street, which ended up 0.10 per cent on Friday. Sydney closed 0.16 per cent, or 7.1 points, higher at 4,521.4. Players are now looking ahead to the European reports on economic growth, due for release later this week. In other markets: * Taipei shares were flat, edging up 3.01 points to 7,215.88. * Jakarta lost 1.72 per cent, or 43.40 points, to 2,475.57. * Manila fell 0.32 per cent, or 9.04 points, to 2,846.60. * Bangkok lost 0.48 per cent, or 3.32 points, to close at 688.09. * Bangkok lost 0.48 per cent, or 3.32 points, to close at 688.09. * Mumbai rose 0.13 per cent, or 19.96 points, to 15,935.61. But earlier highs were pared on concerns the government could start to withdraw stimulus packages in the upcoming federal budget, dealers said. - AFP http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/mmas/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/mmas/Article/ Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:32:26 +0800 LONDON: European shares snapped a three-day losing streak on Monday, boosted by defensive stocks such as drugmakers and commodities tracking crude and metal prices higher. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares provisionally closed up 0.8 per cent at 979.72 points in choppy trade having been up as much as 982.02 points and as low as 964.22 earlier. "Markets are in a tug of war. There is a chance of stabilisation in the short-term," said Gerhard Schwarz, head of global equity strategy at UniCredit in Munich. Elsewhere, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 0.62 per cent to 5,092.33 points, while the Paris CAC 40 climbed 1.22 per cent to 3,607.27 points and the Frankfurt Dax gained 0.93 per cent to 5,484.80 points. - Agencies