Business Times : latesthttp://www.btimes.com.my enWednesday, March 13, 2013, 01.42 PMMIDF raises semiconductor to 'positive'http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313112157/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313112157/Article/Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:21:57 +0800MIDF Research upgraded Malaysia's semiconductor and technology sector to 'positive' from 'neutral', citing robust demand from smartphone makers, which will be the key driver for growth in 2013.
"There will also be other sectors of growth such as optoelectronics," the research house said in a note today.
"Malaysia's recent export numbers for the electrical and electronic sector suggests that the semiconductor sector is on the mend," MIDF added.
The research house has 'buy' calls on Unisem (M) Bhd with a target price of RM1.25 per share and Globetronics Technology Bhd with a target price of RM1.96 per share.
"We continue to like Globetronics for its resilience and the fact that it has exposure in high growth subsectors such as optoelectronics and sensors," it said.
For semiconductor company Unisem, MIDF said it was expecting an earnings recovery in 2013.
As of 10.03am, shares of Globetronics were down 4.95 per cent at RM1.73 per share and Unisem shares were 0.55 per cent lower at 90 sen a share.
The technology index declined 0.84 per cent.-- Reuters China imports RM62m local F&B in 2012http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313110932/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313110932/Article/Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:09:32 +0800China imported food and beverages (FandB) worth RM62.38 million last year as a result of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade)-Parkson Beijing collaboration.
Matrade said this accounted for 20 per cent increase against 2011.
"Currently, about 360 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) Malaysia's FandB products are sold in Beijing Parkson's supermarkets, supplied by 19 suppliers, comprising mostly local Chinese importers and distributors.
"Many Malaysian FandB brands are now available in Beijing as a result of this collaboration over the past six years," the national trade promotion agency said in a statement today.
Matrade said its Beijing office is currently supporting initiatives by some of Parkson's suppliers to also distribute Malaysia's FandB products to local and foreign-owned hypermarkets and convenient stores such as 7-Eleven and Jia Hue Supermarket.
It said efforts are also being made to assist importers and distributors to penetrate north China through a series of events and promotional activities.
"We encourage local manufacturers and exporters to venture into China's rapidly-expanding consumer market," it added.
Food and beverages imported from Malaysia include biscuits and cookies, snacks, confectioneries, pudding, jelly, frozen seafood, coffee and tea.-- Bernama Short-term rates to remain stable http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313111331/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313111331/Article/Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:13:31 +0800Short-term rates are expected to remain stable Wednesday, as Bank Negara Malaysia continues to intervene to absorb excess liquidity from the financial system, dealers said.
The central bank has estimated today's surplus at RM17.02 billion in the conventional system and RM2.6 billion in Islamic funds.
Bank Negara will call for a RM5 billion range maturity auction for five to 92 days and a RM100 million Commodity Murabahah Programme for 21 days.
It will also conduct a RM200 million repo tender for 92 days and an Al-Wadiah tender for RM500 million for seven days.
At 4pm, Bank Negara will conduct up to RM12 billion conventional overnight tender and RM2 billion Al-Wadiah overnight tender.-- Bernama KL shares remain negative mid-morninghttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313095812/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313095812/Article/Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:58:13 +0800Share prices on Bursa Malaysia remained in the negative territory as at mid-morning trading Wednesday in sync with the weaker performance on regional stock markets, dealers said. As at 11am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 9.67 points to 1,646.87. It opened 3.07 points weaker at 1,653.47 earlier. The Plantation Index lost 34.26 points to 7,940.72, the Industrial Index dipped 10.54 points to 2,828.38, and the Finance Index sank 71.9 points to 15,372.64. The FBM Emas Index dwindled 64.09 points to 11,258.96, the FBMT100 slipped 63.58 points to 11,100.82, and the FBM Mid 70 Index erased 64.12 points to 12,482.56, but the FBM Ace Index rose 6.65 points to 3,984.94. Losers led gainers by 298 to 128, with 219 counters unchanged, 987 untraded and 18 others suspended. Turnover stood at 241.4 million shares worth RM310.31 million. Actives, Patimas Computers and Asia Bioenergy Tech earned half sen each to four sen and seven sen, respectively, Asia Media Group gained one sen to 15 sen while GPRO Technologies was flat at 11 sen. Heavyweights, Maybank, Sime Darby and Axiata lost one sen each to RM9.19, RM9.19 and RM6.41, respectively, and CIMB declined eight sen to RM7.17.-- Bernama Ringgit opens higher on export boosthttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313105743/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313105743/Article/Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:57:43 +0800The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar in early trading Wednesday following signs of improvement in the US economy, boosting Malaysia's export outlook.
At 9.06am, the ringgit was quoted at 3.1020/1040 from yesterday's close at 3.1075/1105.
A dealer said the US job data showed the fewest workers on record were fired in the world's largest economy in January and job openings rebounded in the country, the fourth biggest importer of Malaysian goods last year.
Against other major currencies, the ringgit was traded higher against the Singapore dollar at 2.4886/4914 from Tuesday's 2.4892/4918 and strengthened against the yen to 3.2289/2313 from 3.2296/2344 yesterday.
The local currency rose against the British pound to 4.6232/6274 from yesterday's 4.6299/6356 but eased against the euro to 4.0416/0448 from 4.0394/0440 Tuesday.-- Bernama US stocks eke out 6th record highhttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313074907/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20130313074907/Article/Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:49:07 +0800NEW YORK: US stocks closed mostly lower Tuesday in quiet trade, but the Dow squeezed out a sixth straight day of record-high closings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 2.77 points (0.02 per cent) to 14,450.06, an all-time peak.
The broad-market SandP 500 fell 3.74 points (0.24 per cent) to 1,552.48, snapping a seven-session winning streak.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.55 points (0.32 per cent) to 3,242.32.
"The record-breaking winning streak for the Dow continued, eking out a very modest gain, while technology stocks kept the other major indexes lower," Charles Schwab and Co. said in a market note.
But stocks overall remained "close to the flatline, as the markets lacked any hint of a catalyst from either the economic and equity fronts."
The Dow kept up its eight-day winning streak lifted by a 3.2 per cent rise in the shares of pharmaceutical giant Merck after it won regulatory approval to continue its clinical study of the cholesterol drug Vytorin.
Also helping the blue-chip index was Boeing, up 1.5 per cent amid reports Irish airline Ryanair will announce an US$18 billion order for up to 200 aircraft.
Dow oil major Chevron slipped 0.4 per cent after saying it was on track to meet its target for a large increase in oil and natural gas output in 2017.
Tech heavyweight Apple tumbled 2.2 per cent to US$428.43 after a price target cut from analyst Jefferies, to US$420.
Google dropped 0.9 per cent after agreeing to pay a US$7 million fine to settle a US Wi-Fi privacy lawsuit. Hewlett-Packard shed 1.8 per cent.
BlackBerry gave back 2.9 per cent from Monday's 14.1 per cent gain after it announced the US launch date for its new Z10 smartphone, March 22.
Yum Brands gained 1.3 per cent after the restaurant giant reported same-store sales fell about 2.0 per cent in China in February, not as much as analysts expected. -- AFP
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