NST Online Business Times : latest
NST Online Business Times : latest |
| KL shares opem higher across-the-board Posted: 05 Nov 2013 06:17 PM PST Share prices on Bursa Malaysia were traded higher in the early session today, spurred by buying interest across-the-board,
At 9.04am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was 4.84 points higher at 1,812.31 after opening at 1,811.06. Turnover stood at 114.69 million shares worth RM80.92 million. Gainers outnumbered losers by 145 to 70, with 148 counters unchanged, 1,227 untraded and 20 others suspended. HwangDBS Vickers Research said the FBM KLCI might continue to trade sideways, with immediate support and resistance level at 1,800 and 1,825, respectively, as investors await the release of US economic and employment data. "The US third quarter gross domestic product data is due tomorrow and the crucial non-farm payroll data on Friday, which will shed more light on the US recovery," it said in a research note today. On the scoreboard, the Finance Index gained 34.18 points to 16,731.44, the Industrial Index was up 7.61 points to 3,132.10, while the Plantation Index rose 3.92 points to 8,638.40. The FBM Emas Index advanced 29.36 points to 12,600.66, the FBMT100 Index garnered 26.71 points to 12,321.52, the FBM 70 added 5.29 points to 14,293.45 and the FBM Ace surged 42.32 points to 5,844.57. Among actives, Karex, which made its debut on the Bursa Malaysia Main Board today, gained 49 sen to RM2.34, a premium of 49 sen above its offer price of RM1.85. At 9.08am, it was up 52 sen to RM2.37. A total of 13.24 million shares were transacted. Meanwhile, Barakah Offshore Petroleum made its debut on the Main Market today at RM1.06 for a 41 sen premium over its initial 65 sen offer price. As at 9.05am, 7.7 million shares changed hands. Iris Corp gained half a sen to 28.5 sen while Hubline and Tiger Synergy were unchanged at 5.5 sen and 26.5 sen, respectively. As for heavyweights, Maybank and Axiata added three sen to RM9.90 and RM6.91, respectively, while CIMB and Sime Darby gained two sen to RM7.56 and RM9.53, respectively. Petronas Chemicals was unchanged at RM7.08.-- Bernama |
| 'Malaysia's Vision 2020 on track' Posted: 05 Nov 2013 07:09 PM PST NEW YORK: Malaysia's surge from once a nascent developing
The level of development and sophistication characterising Malaysia's economy today was also highlighted by Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, who is currently visiting New York with a
Abdul Wahid is also accompanied by Datuk Tajuddin Atan, the chief executive officer of Bursa Malaysia, and Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, president and chief executive officer of the Maybank Group.
"In line with the goal of making Malaysia a developed country by 2020, we underlined our objectives to increase the country's per capita income from US6,750 to US$15,000 in 2020. Currently, we are around US$10,000 and are on track to achieving the US$15,000 income target by 2020. This is an all-inclusive income growth we are trying to achieve," Abdul Wahid said in an interview with Bernama in New York. Abdul Wahid, who is rated as one of Malaysia's leading financial experts and was the president and chief executive officer of the Maybank Group before he was appointed the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, reinforced the Malaysian government's "deep commitment" to improving the earnings of all Malaysians, including the low-income earning Malaysians. "Our goal will be to achieve sustainability. By sustainability, we do not just mean the environment-friendly and judicious use of the country's natural resources such as oil and gas, but also the overall economic management of the country. "Our guiding principle is to ensure Malaysia's economic growth, yet at the same time not lose sight of our economic responsibility to reduce the budget deficit and achieve a balanced budget by the year 2020," he explained. Abdul Wahid spoke of the "dramatic transformation" of Malaysia's economy which had moved from an agro-based through manufacturing to a services economy. "The services sector contributed about 55 per cent to the economy and has exceeded the manufacturing sector," he said. Highlighting the positive attributes of Malaysia's corporate sector, Abdul Wahid said Malaysian companies are better capitalised today, their debt levels are much lower than in 1997/98, when the devastating financial crisis enveloped
"The size of our international reserves then were between US$19 billion and US$30 billion. Today the reserves are around US$106 billion," he said. With the formation of the Asean Economic Community in 2015, Abdul Wahib said that he was a "great believer in the Asean story". "I believe that the Asean leaders are committed to the Asean goals. Malaysian companies are successfully operating in the Asean region and this will, invariably, give American companies many advantages, including accessibility to a US$2 trillion capital market," he stressed. The 2014 budget, announced on October 25, has been the "most anticipated budget in Malaysia's history". The budget's emphasis was on sustainability, strengthening economic resilience, accelerating transformation of the country to a developed
To illustrate the government's "economic responsibility", Abdul Wahib said the budget deficit this year was around four per cent. "This (deficit) will be progressively reduced to 3.5 per cent in 2014 and three per cent in 2015. "Thereafter, we will keep reducing the deficit until we reach a balanced budget by 2020," Abdul Wahid said. In the balance-of-payment account, Malaysia is projected to have a surplus of RM25 billion this year. However, the payment account surplus was narrowing down attributed mainly to lower exports, rise in imports, particularly involving big-ticket purchases such as large commercial aircraft by the airlines. Abdul Wahid, who also addressed a gathering of fund managers in New York in the presence of the Malaysian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Datuk Hussein Haniff and the Malaysian Consul-General in New York, Syed Bakri Syed Abdul Rahman, said the government would be embarking on an "ambitious
Facing shortage of experts and skilled labour, Malaysia is also trying to lure back Malaysian experts who work abroad. "We are keen to attract Malaysian expats living abroad to return to Malaysia and provide their expertise in their area of specialisation," he added.-- Bernama |
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