Business Times : latesthttp://www.btimes.com.my enTuesday, December 24, 2013, 12.08 PMKL shares track buoyant US stock marthttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224101547/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224101547/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 10:15:52 +0800Shares on Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, tracking the buoyant US stock market, dealers said.
At 9.25am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,834.96, up 2.1 points, after opening 1.01 points higher at 1,833.87.-- Bernama Crude prices mixed in quiet Asian tradehttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224104142/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224104142/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 10:41:42 +0800SINGAPORE: Oil prices were mixed in quiet Christmas Eve trade in Asia Tuesday as dealers engaged in profit-taking with a lack of leads to spur fresh market movement, analysts said.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery, was down 24 cents at US$98.67 while Brent North Sea crude for February gained eight cents to US$111.64.
"There hasn't been much movement in the commodity or currency markets ahead of the holidays, and traders are currently squaring off their positions," Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, told AFP.
"We are seeing some profit-taking with the WTI contract after the rally last week," he said.
US oil prices rose 2.8 per cent last week following upbeat economic data as well as an announcement by the Federal Reserve that it would cut its stimulus by US$10 billion to US$75 billion a month from January, indicating its confidence in the economy.
Singapore-based Phillip Futures said oil prices retained firm support owing to buoyant sentiment about US demand, while supplies continue to be curtailed from OPEC members Libya and Iran.
Output from Libya has been hit by a months-long blockade of critical oil-exporting terminals, while Iranian exports have been halved to 1.2 million barrels per day following crippling international sanctions imposed on it because of its disputed nuclear programme.
Phillip Futures said data from the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission showed that investors including hedge funds and pension funds had increased their "long positions" on crude oil in the week to December 17, "reflecting positive sentiments towards the commodity".-- AFP Top arrangers bullish as CIMB builds pipelinehttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224105744/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224105744/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 10:57:44 +0800Malaysia's leading Islamic bond arrangers say sales will probably rise by about 33 per cent to RM60 billion in 2014 as more projects come on stream under the government's economic transformation programme.
The Federal Reserve's decision to trim monthly bond purchases effectively removed a major uncertainty for issuers, according to CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and AmInvestment Bank Bhd. Malaysia has attracted committed investments of RM220 billion under its decade-long US$444 billion development programme introduced in 2010, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on December 16.
"We have a healthy pipeline, with 15 to 20 deals worth about 10 billion ringgit," Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, chief executive officer at CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd, a unit of Malaysia's biggest sukuk arranger this year after managing almost RM13 billion, said in a December 18 telephone interview. "The Fed tapering won't have much impact as the market has already factored in such a possibility."
Issuance slumped 53 per cent to RM44.9 billion in 2013, the steepest drop in data compiled by Bloomberg going back to 1999. Malaysian companies sold an unprecedented RM95.8 billion in 2012, up from RM45 billion the previous year, after highway toll operator PLUS Bhd completed the industry's biggest-ever offering of RM31 billion.
The US central bank said last week it will cut its monthly bond buying program by US$10 billion to US$75 billion from January, citing an improved employment outlook. The International Monetary Fund said December 22 it is raising its outlook for the US economy, as a budget deal in Washington and the plan to taper gives a clearer picture.
While yields may go up further, corporates will opt to tap the sukuk market for funding needs because presently rates on bonds are still lower than a 10-year loan charging more than six per cent, Mohd Effendi Abdullah, head of Islamic markets at Kuala Lumpur-based AmInvestment, Malaysia's third-largest sukuk arranger this year, said in a December 20 telephone interview.
Ten-year borrowing costs climbed in 2013 on speculation the US would trim its stimulus and as Malaysian inflation accelerated. Yields on top-rated corporate non-Shariah-compliant debt rose 15 basis points, or 0.15 percentage point, to a 22- month high of 4.44 per cent, according to a central bank index.
The Bloomberg-AIBIM Bursa Malaysia Corporate Sukuk Index, a benchmark that tracks the most-traded local-currency notes, gained 2.9 per cent this year to 105.24, the highest level since its inception in February 2012.
Consumer prices rose 2.9 per cent in November from a year earlier, the fastest in almost two years. Ten-year government sukuk yields reached 4.44 per cent on December 6, the highest since at least 2010, and were last at 4.38 per cent, a separate Bank Negara Malaysia gauge shows.
Stricter banking regulations set to come into effect in 2019 under the new Basel III standard that requires lenders to boost their capital base will also help spur sales of Islamic debt, according to CIMB and AmInvestment.
"With market conditions remaining fairly stable, the sale momentum will continue into 2014," Mohd Effendi said. "There will also be companies looking to refinance their debt and some Islamic banks looking to raise funds to meet Basel III requirements."-- Bloomberg KLCI futures higher in early sessionhttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224102035/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224102035/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 10:20:35 +0800The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives was traded higher this morning.
At 9.33am, spot month December 2013 and January 2014 added two points each to 1,834 and 1,837.5, respectively.
March 2014 and June 2014 were untraded and remained pegged at yesterday's 1,835 and 1,828, respectively.
Turnover amounted to 3,601 lots while open interest stood at 50,604 contracts.
The underlying FBM KLCI was 1.89 points higher at 1,834.75 after 33 minutes of trading.-- Bernama Ringgit opens unchanged against USDhttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224102457/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224102457/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 10:24:57 +0800The ringgit opened unchanged at 3.2900/2940 against the US dollar this morning on lack of demand.
A dealer said investors were away for the Christmas and New Year holidays and the market isn expected to remain subdued until the first week of January.
Meanwhile, the local unit was traded higher against other major
currencies.
It rose versus the Singapore dollar to 2.5957/5992 from 2.5998/5019 yesterday and increased against the yen to 3.1525/1570 from 3.1635/1662 on Monday.
Against the British pound, the domestic unit rose to 5.3742/3814 from 5.3831/3878 on Monday but weakened against the euro to 4.5017/5075 from yesterday's 4.4997/4035.-- Bernama Short-term rates to remain stablehttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224102704/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224102704/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 10:27:04 +0800Short-term interbank rates are likely to remain stable today following Bank Negara Malaysia's intervention to trim down
excess liquidity from the financial system.
The central bank estimated today's liquidity at RM23.489 billion in the conventional system and RM3.759 billion in Islamic funds.
Bank Negara will conduct three conventional money market tenders comprising RM2 billion for seven days and RM1 billion each for 14 days and 31 days, respectively.
The central bank will also call for two repo tenders, RM300 million for 31 days and RM200 million for 90 days, two Al-Wadiah tenders comprising RM800 million for seven days and RM400 million for 14 days and a Commodity Murabahah programme worth RM200 million for 14 days.
At 4pm, the central bank will conduct up to RM19.0 billion in conventional overnight tenders and a RM3.759 billion Al-Wadiah overnight tender.-- Bernama Gold futures rebounds from yesterday's losseshttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224102858/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224102858/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 10:28:58 +0800Gold futures contract rebounded from yesterday's losses to open higher on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives as investors took advantage of the lower prices, dealers said.
At 9.20am, December 2013 and January 2014 were each eight ticks higher at RM126.90 and RM127.20 sen a gramme, respectively, while February 2014 was untraded at RM127.200 sen a gramme.
Turnover stood at 12 lots while open interest amounted to 1,441 contracts.-- Bernama FTSE Bursa Malaysia update: 10.30amhttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224110101/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224110101/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 11:01:01 +0800At 10.30am today, there were 226 gainers, 187 losers and 235 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia.
The FBM-KLCI was at 1,839.62 up 6.76 points, the FBMACE was at
5,613.91 up 11.01 points, and the FBMEmas was at 12,682.42 up 35.44 points.
Turnover was at 219.289 million shares valued at RM134.999 million.-- Bernama Tin price unchangedhttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224110530/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224110530/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 11:05:30 +0800On the Kuala Tn Market, business was done today at US$22,700 per tonne (ex-smelter), unchanged from yesterday on a turnover of 42 tonnes.-- Bernama
KL shares extend gains mid-morninghttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224101848/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224101848/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 10:18:49 +0800Shares on Bursa Malaysia extended gains at mid-morning boosted by rising optimism of an improving economic outlook. At 11.03am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,839.69, up 6.83 points, after fluctuating between 1,833.52 and 1,840.34.-- Bernama Gold down 58 sen at RM122.59 per grammehttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224102251/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224102251/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 10:22:51 +0800The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM122.59 per gramme, down 58 sen from RM123.17 at 5pm yesterday.-- Bernama
Dow, S&P hit record highshttp://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224103732/Article/ http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20131224103732/Article/Tue, 24 Dec 2013 10:37:32 +0800NEW YORK: US stocks climbed on Monday, with the Dow and SandP 500 advancing to all-time highs as a distribution deal by Apple Inc with China Mobile boosted the technology sector.
Apple rose 3.8 per cent to US$570.09, its biggest percentage gain in three months, after the tech titan said on Sunday it had signed a long-awaited agreement with China Mobile Ltd to sell iPhones through the world's biggest network of mobile phone users, a deal that could add billions of dollars to its revenue.
Apple's rally helped power the SandP technology sector index to a gain of 1.5 per cent, making it the best performer of the 10 major SandP sectors. The stock's massive market capitalization helped lift both the SandP 500 and the Nasdaq. US-listed shares of China Mobile rose 1.6 per cent to US$52.47.
"It is up nicely on this news, and it's not bad news. But I thought it was something people were kind of already aware of," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Equity Management LLC in San Francisco.
Volume was light, with about 4.68 billion shares traded on US exchanges, well below the 6.49 billion average so far this month, according to data from BATS Global Markets.
This week, volume is expected to be thin, with many market participants out for the Christmas holiday. Equity markets will close early on Tuesday and will be closed all of Wednesday. The light volume could amplify market volatility.
"I've got traders calling me up saying, 'You got anything going on? I've got nothing.' Everyone is looking for something that's moving. This is just the way it is when it comes to the Christmas holidays," said Michael Matousek, head trader at US Global Investors Inc in San Antonio, Texas.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 73.47 points or 0.45 per cent, to end at 16,294.61, a record high. The SandP 500 gained 9.67 points or 0.53 per cent, to finish at a record 1,827.99.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced 44.163 points or 1.08 per cent, to close at 4,148.903, its highest since August 2000.
The Dow also touched an all-time intraday high at 16,318.11, while the SandP 500 climbed to a record intraday high at 1,829.75.
Both the Nasdaq and the SandP 500 got a lift from Facebook Inc, which jumped 4.8 per cent to end at a record US$57.77, in the social networking company's first day of trading as an SandP 500 component. Facebook also set an all-time intraday high of US$58.32 during Monday's session.
The Dow's and the SandP 500's runs to all-time highs extended the market's sharp gains from last week, the strongest week for the major US stock indexes in months.
The rally was fueled by strong economic data and the US Federal Reserve's decision to begin trimming its stimulus programme next month, which removed a major source of uncertainty for the market. The Fed also said its key interest rate would stay at rock bottom longer than previously promised.
"Clearly what the Fed did was right down the sweet spot, and it was quite frankly what the market wanted to hear. But now it is in the market, and we have to wait for new events," Massocca said.
The SandP 500 has soared 28.2 per cent this year, largely due to the Fed's stimulus measures, and is on track for its best year since 1997.
The Dow has climbed 24.3 per cent in 2013, while the Nasdaq has jumped 37.4 per cent.
In the latest economic data, consumer sentiment hit a five-month high heading into the end of the year, and spending notched its strongest month since the summer, the latest signs of sustained vigor in the economy that are increasing hopes of a strong 2014.
Retail stocks will continue to garner attention in the final shopping days leading up to Christmas. In a sign that this season may be a difficult one for the sector, US consumers shopped less during the final weekend before Christmas despite deeper discounts, according to analytics firm RetailNext.
Target Corp may encounter particular trouble in the wake of a massive data breach. The Wall Street Journal reported that the retailer suffered reduced customer traffic over the weekend, which is one of the busiest of the year. Target's stock fell one per cent to US$61.88.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2,165 to 883, while on the Nasdaq, 1,902 stocks rose and 722 shares declined.-- Reuters
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