NST Online Business Times : latest

Posted: 29 Jul 2011 07:14 PM PDT

Bursa Malaysia is likely to be choppy next week ahead of the August 2 deadline for US lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling, dealers said.

With the US debt standoff continuing to dominate investor psychology,
the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was expected to test the crucial
psychological level of 1,545 points.

"The ability to rebound above the 1,545 points level over the next few days
will definitely be positive suggesting the 1,560 level as the next target and

the end of the debt saga," a dealer said.

However, any breakdown below the 1,545 level would be the first warning sign that a major peak has been completed with more downside to come possibly towards the 1,530 level as the near-term target, an analyst said.

Affin Investment Bank Head of Retail Research Dr Nazri Khan said some
support for the KLCI was expected, partly due to positive regional spillover,
with foreign investors returning to the country.
He pointed out that latest trading statistics indicated that foreign
equity trading in the local bourse had risen above 30 per cent for the first
time after being depressed since 2009.
Nazri said the government's decision to add more measures to combat
inflation, such as a new price-control mechanism and a new National Key Result
Area to deal with rising cost of living, will be supportive for the local
benchmark.
"We strongly believe domestic bank stocks would be able to weather the
crisis given their limited exposure to US dollar denominated bonds and well
capitalised position," Nazri told Bernama.
He said investors should avoid highly geared companies that are dependent on
foreign credit and pick cash rich companies which can seize mergers,
acquisitions or privatisation opportunities in the event of a market downturn.
For the week just ended, persistent selling pressure saw the FBM KLCI end
16.25 points lower at 1,548.81, from 1,565.06, previously.

The Finance Index lost 183.52 points to 14,811.13, the Industrial Index fell
40.16 points to 2,827.74 but the Plantation Index rose 38.09 points to 7,736.2.

The FBM Emas Index decreased 83.64 points to 10,682.79.

Total weekly volume increased to 5.13 billion shares, worth RM8.07 billion,
from 4.9 billion shares, valued at RM9.24 billion, last week.

The Main Market turnover rose to 3.6 billion shares, worth RM7.84 billion,
from 3.33 billion shares, valued at RM8.98 billion, previously.

Volume on the ACE Market was higher at 999.5 million, valued at RM277.46
million, from 1.040 billion shares, worth RM166.03 million, registered last
week.
Warrants advanced to 494.04 million shares, valued at RM96.7 million, from
521.42 million units, worth RM90.73 million, recorded previously. -- Bernama

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Weak growth, debt standoff hit US stocks

Posted: 29 Jul 2011 04:23 PM PDT

NEW YORK: US stocks sank on Friday, weighed down by an unexpectedly negative report on the country's economic growth and nervousness over the debt-ceiling battle in Washington.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96.87 points (0.79 percent) to close at 12,143.24. It has now fallen for six consecutive trading days.

The broader S&P 500 tumbled 8.39 points (0.65 percent) to 1,292.28, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 9.87 points (0.36 percent) to close at 2,756.38.

The Dow plunged more than 100 points in opening trade after the government reported that US gross domestic product grew just 1.3 percent in the second quarter, a much slower pace than economists had expected.

Notably, the government also slashed its estimate for first-quarter GDP growth from 1.9 percent to just 0.4 percent.

"The revision of Q1 was pretty stunning. Not a good overall number to finish the week on," said Marc Pado, chief US market strategist for Cantor Fitzgerald.

Stock markets later made up some ground but remained depressed as investors worried about the looming threat of a default by the US government or a downgrade of the United States' top-notch credit rating.

Only four days remain before a deadline set by the US Treasury for when it says it will stop being able to pay its bills unless Congress raises the government's $14.29 trillion borrowing limit.

Congress has been unable to reach a compromise as deeply divided Democrats and Republicans have struggled to bridge their differences over taxes and government spending.

In company news, shares of Yahoo! fell 3.0 percent after the Internet services firm announced that it had settled a dispute with its Chinese partners over payment-processing unit Alipay.

Yahoo! claimed victory in the agreement, but some analysts compared the resolution of the dispute to a forced sale.

Shares of Chevron, the number-two US oil company, dropped 1.0 percent even though it reported that its second-quarter profits had surged 43 percent to $7.73 billion.

Bond prices rallied. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.81 percent from 2.95 percent late on Thursday, while the 30-year bond dropped to 4.13 percent from 4.26 percent. -- AFP

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Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Jumaat, 29 Julai 2011

NST Online Business Times : latest

NST Online Business Times : latest

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