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KL shares extend gains to open higher Posted: 12 Dec 2012 06:09 PM PST Share prices on Bursa Malaysia extended its gains to open higher on the back of bullish regional sentiment, dealers said. After 31 minutes of trading, the barometer FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 3.79 points better at 1,653.54 after opening 2.48 points higher at 1,652.53. HwangDBS Vickers Research said the local bourse was likely to come in for a breather after posting seven consecutive days of gains amounting to 42.4 points or 2.6 per cent. "As such, we think that the index will likely trade sideways today," it said in a research note. Overnight, key US equity indices closed between flat and -0.3 per cent as optimism about the Federal Reserves' plans to buy more bonds faded, with the attention now returning to the fiscal cliff negotiations taking place in Washington. "This follows Ben Bernanke's statement that monetary stimulus will not be able to offset the fiscal cliff of automatic tax increases and budget cuts," it added. Meanwhile, the Finance Index rose 9.68 points to 15,163.53, the Industrial Index slipped 1.96 points to 2,719.18 and the Plantation Index added 22.06 points to 7,987.31. The Ace Index lost 3.48 points to 4,149.38, the FBMT100 rose 23.14 points to 11,074.72, the FBM Emas garnered 21.76 points to 11,217.62 while the FBM Mid 70 index was 14.91 points better at 12,130.72. There were 132 gainers and 92 losers while 148 counters were unchanged, 1,268 counters untraded and 29 were suspended. Volume stood at 110.48 million shares worth RM81.18 million. Among actives, KBB Resources earned one sen to 53 sen, Nextnation Communication and Ingenuity Consolidated was flat at 10.5 sen and nine sen, respectively, but Tiger Synergy dipped 1.5 sen to 35 sen. Heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM9.07, CIMB perked one sen to RM7.61, Axiata increased 12 sen to RM6.52 while Sime Darby eased four sen RM9.16. Bernama

'A wild day on Wall Street' Posted: 12 Dec 2012 04:13 PM PST NEW YORK: US stocks closed mostly flat Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned politicians to reach a deal to avoid sending economy over the fiscal cliff. After a surge on the Fed's announcement of more bond purchases to support the sluggish economy, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell back to end down 2.99 points (0.02 percent) at 13,245.45, breaking a five-day winning streak. The S&P 500-stock index edged up 0.64 point (0.04 percent) to 1,428.48, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 8.49 (0.28 percent) to 3,013.81. "It was a wild day on Wall Street," said Ryan Detrick of Schaeffer's Investment Research. "We rallied out of the gate after the Fed decision," he said, but after Bernanke's news conference "we saw some strong selling." As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee held its key interest rate at 0-0.25 percent and announced a new US$45 billion a month bond-purchase program to replace a stock-swap operation that expires at year-end. But Bernanke put a damper on market enthusiasm when he warned that Congress and the White House needed to urgently find a solution to the fiscal cliff crisis, which could send the economy back into recession next year. On the Dow, Wal-Mart was the biggest laggard, down 2.8 percent after chief executive Mike Duke said the retail giant's customers were worried about the fiscal cliff and the holiday shopping season was showing "very muted" positive signs. DuPont rallied 1.4 percent after announcing a US$1 billion share buyback program and updating its 2012 earnings outlook to the high-end of its prior guidance. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bought back US$1.2 billion in stock, sending its B shares up 2.4 percent. On the Nasdaq, heavyweight Apple dropped 0.4 percent. The Wall Street Journal reported the company is working with component suppliers in Asia to test TV set prototypes, suggesting a possible move into the TV market. Costco Wholesale fell 0.6 percent, after the warehouse club retailer posted first-quarter fiscal earnings that topped Street expectations. Rare-earth miner Molycorp dived 3.0 percent after the departure of chief Bond prices tumbled. The 10-year US Treasury yield rose to 1.70 percent from 1.65 percent late Tuesday, while the 30-year increased to 2.90 percent from 2.84 percent. -- AFP

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Oregon mall shooting: Teen survivor in serious condition - Chicago Tribune Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:41 AM PST A teenage girl wounded in a shooting spree at an Oregon shopping mall that left three dead, including the suspected gunman, is in serious condition, a hospital official said today. Kristina Shevchenko was one of at least three people shot when a man wearing what appeared to be a hockey mask opened fire with a rifle at the crowded Clackamas Town Center in the Portland suburb of Happy Valley. Police will release the names of the victims and the shooter at a news conference at noon Chicago time today. Shevchenko's name was released by the Oregon Health & Science University Hospital on authorization of her family. "The family is doing OK," Shevchenko's brother, Yevgeniy, said. He said his sister was 15 years old and declined further comment. In a Facebook posting Tuesday night, Yevgeniy Shevchenko said: "As of now she is stable and sleeping. the bullet went through bruising her lung, it missed any vital organs and it missed her ribs. she will need 2 more operations. we appreciate any and all support including your prayers! thank you." "It really was a killing of total strangers, to my knowledge at this point and time. He was really trying to kill as many people as possible," Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts told ABC's "Good Morning America."People at the mall were heroic in helping get shoppers out of the building, including emergency room nurses who rendered aid, Roberts said. Employees at the mall with 2,000 employees were trained to run and hide, lock down and evacuate. Since previous mass shootings, the first arriving officers were trained to form teams and go inside instead of waiting for SWAT. "This could have been much, much worse," Roberts said. The first 911 call came at 3:29 p.m. Tuesday. The first officers arrived a minute later. By 3:51 p.m., all the victims and the gunman and rifle and been found. Four SWAT teams spent hours clearing the 1.4 million square-foot mall, leaving shoppers and workers to hide in fear. The mall Santa, Brance Wilson, was waiting for the next child's Christmas wish when shots rang out, causing the mall to erupt into chaos. About to invite a child to hop onto his lap, Wilson instead dove for the floor and kept his head down as he heard shots being fired upstairs in the mall. "I heard two shots and got out of the chair. I thought a red suit was a pretty good target," said Wilson, 68. Families waiting for Santa scattered. More shots followed, and Wilson crept away for better cover. Witnesses said the gunman fired several times near the mall food court until the rifle jammed and he dropped a magazine onto the floor, then ran into the Macy's store. Witnesses heard the gunman saying, "I am the shooter," as he fired rounds from a semi-automatic rifle inside the Clackamas Town Center, a popular suburban mall several miles from downtown Portland. Some were close enough to the shooter to feel the percussion of his gun. Police rapid-response teams came into the mall with guns drawn, telling everyone to leave. Shoppers and mall employees who were hiding stayed in touch with loved ones with cellphones and texting. Kayla Sprint, 18, was interviewing for a job at a clothing store when she heard shots. "We heard people running back here screaming, yelling '911,'" she told The Associated Press. Sprint barricaded herself in the store's back room until the coast was clear. Jason DeCosta, a manager of a window-tinting company that has a display on the mall's ground floor, said when he arrived to relieve his co-worker, he heard shots ring out upstairs. DeCosta ran up an escalator, past people who had dropped for cover and glass littering the floor. "I figure if he's shooting a gun, he's gonna run out of bullets," DeCosta said, "and I'm gonna take him." DeCosta said when he got to the food court, "I saw a gentleman face down, obviously shot in the head." "A lot of blood," DeCosta said. "You could tell there was nothing you could do for him."

UN Security Council discusses response to North Korea launch - Reuters Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:55 AM PST By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS | Wed Dec 12, 2012 11:36am EST (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council met on North Korea's rocket launch on Wednesday, a move Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned as a "provocative act" in breach of resolutions banning Pyongyang from developing ballistic missiles. Several council diplomats said they hoped the 15-nation body could swiftly agree a similar condemnation and later consider a binding resolution, possibly expanding already existing U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang. "We support a strong reaction by the council, it's a clear violation," French U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud told reporters before going into the council meeting. "But we have to see what our friends want." "We do consider it logical to sooner or later have a resolution," he added. British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant echoed that sentiment: "In our view (the council) should react, it should react quickly, and it should react strongly to this provocation." A senior Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity that the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea were among those who would like to see U.N. sanctions expanded. That could include adding more entities to the U.N. blacklist, banning travel and freezing assets of individual North Korean officials and tightening the cargo inspection regime. Whether or not the council can agree a resolution - with or without expanding the sanctions - will depend largely on China and its diplomatically on the Security Council, Russia. Both nations have veto powers and tend to support each other and vote the same way on issues important to either of them. "Exactly what the Chinese will be prepared to accept in form and substance is not yet clear," the diplomat said. He hoped they could have a resolution agreed by the end of next week. Diplomats said China's expression of regret about the launch combined with a call for restraint left few clues as to what it would accept. Russia expressed "deep regret," which Western diplomats said they hoped was a signal that it would accept a strong response by the council. 'CLEAR VIOLATION' North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to opponents. The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting targets as far away as the continental United States. It was Japan that first appealed to the Security Council to take up the issue of North Korea's missile launch. Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, expressed concern that the launch could negatively impact prospects for peace and security in the region. A statement issued by Ban's office said the launch was "a clear violation of Security Council resolution 1874, in which the Council demanded that the DPRK not conduct any launch using ballistic missile technology." The statement said Ban had urged North Korea's leaders not to launch a missile but "instead to build confidence with its neighbors while taking steps to improve the lives of its people." "The Secretary-General is concerned about the negative consequences that this provocative act may have on peace and stability in the region," the statement said, adding that Ban was in touch with "concerned" governments. North Korea followed what it said was a similar successful launch in 2009 with a nuclear test that prompted the U.N. Security Council to stiffen sanctions that it originally imposed in 2006 after the North's first nuclear test. North Korea is banned from developing nuclear and missile-related technology under U.N. resolutions, although Kim Jong-un, the youthful head of state who took power a year ago, is believed to have continued the state's "military first" programs put in place by his late father, Kim Jong-il. (Editing by David Storey and Xavier Briand)

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Michigan House Approves Union Limit - New York Times Posted: 11 Dec 2012 09:27 AM PST By MONICA DAVEY Published: December 11, 2012 LANSING, Mich. — Over the shouts of thousands of angry protesters gathered outside the State Capitol here, Michigan's House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that would vastly reduce the power of organized labor in this traditionally strong union state. The 58-to-51 vote was the first piece of a two-part package, that would, among other things, bar workers from being required to pay union fees as a condition of employment. Recall! Recall! Recall!" union supporters cried out from the gallery. Before the vote, Democrats in the state's House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a 64-to-46 majority over Democrats, were desperately trying to offer amendments to the measures in order to derail them. Among the suggestions: Send the question to a public vote. So far, all amendments had been rejected. "This is being forced down peoples' throats," said Jon M. Switalski, a Democrat, speaking against the legislation. "It's being done so in a very poor way — in lame-duck with no committee meetings." Democrats, one by one, recalled their family histories in labor unions and reminisced about what unions once meant to the country, but primarily, they talked about their objections to the speed and method of the Republican-sponsored legislation. Joan Bauer, a Democrat, said she was saddened and sickened by what was happening. "I cannot believe this legislations was rammed through in one day," Ms. Bauer said. But Rick Olson, a Republican, said the legislation was a matter of worker choice, not of harming unions. Mr. Olson described the move as "tough love" for unions. As the debate continued, the Capitol was closed after the authorities said the building had reached its capacity, leaving noisy union members — many dressed in red — on the lawn outside. They chanted, the sound of their drums becoming increasingly loud: "Kill the bill! Kill the bill!" Streets around the Capitol building were closed to traffic and numerous clusters of state police, some carrying riot gear, kept posts throughout the building and along nearby streets. At least two school districts around the state announced that they would close for the day, as word spread that teachers and other workers planned to protest in Lansing. Democrats, including President Obama, have denounced the measures. Final passage requires votes by the State House of Representatives on two measures — one dealing with employees at private companies, the other with most public workers — and a signature from Gov. Rick Snyder, which is expected later in the week. "You know, these so-called right-to-work laws, they don't have to do with economics," said Mr. Obama, during a visit to a truck factory outside Detroit on Monday. "They have everything to do with politics. What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money." From a distance, there would seem no more unlikely a target for this fight than Michigan, where labor, hoping to demonstrate strength after a series of setbacks, asked voters last month to enshrine collective bargaining into the State Constitution. But that ballot measure failed badly, and suddenly a reverse drive was under way that has brought the state to a moment startling in its symbolism. How the home of the United Automobile Workers finds itself close to becoming the 24th state to ban compulsory union fees — and only the second state to pass such legislation in a decade — is the latest chapter in a larger battle over the role of unions in the nation's midsection. It is a reflection of mounting tension between labor leaders and Michigan Republicans who took control of the state two years ago, and the result of a change of position by Mr. Snyder, a political novice who had long avoided the issue because, he had said, it was too divisive. It is also an effort being closely watched — and fueled, labor leaders say — by national conservative groups who see the outcome in Michigan as an emblem for similar measures in other states with far thinner union histories. "Everybody has this image of Michigan as a labor state," said Bill Ballenger, the editor of Inside Michigan Politics. "But organized labor has been losing clout, and the Republicans saw an opportunity, and now the chickens are coming home to roost." Since the wave of Republican wins in 2010 in statehouses in the Midwest, campaigns to limit unions have boiled over in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere. But in Michigan, where Republicans also won control, those efforts had seemed more muted, with some in the party, including Mr. Snyder, shying away from the broadest, most sweeping measures. As it has throughout the country, membership in unions has fallen here in recent decades — about 17.5 percent of Michigan residents are members — and the statewide ballot proposal failed by 14 percentage points on Nov. 6, even as Mr. Obama won the state.

France urges rapid foreign military intervention in Mali - Jerusalem Post Posted: 11 Dec 2012 04:43 AM PST PARIS - France called on Tuesday for a new government to be formed quickly in Mali after the arrest and resignation of its prime minister, which Paris said bolstered the case for foreign military intervention. Prime Minister Cheick Mobido Diarra announced his resignation on state television hours after being arrested by soldiers while trying to leave the West African nation for France. "These developments underline the need for the rapid deployment of an African stabilization force," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot told reporters.

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KL shares remain steady at opening Posted: 10 Dec 2012 06:12 PM PST Share prices on Bursa Malaysia maintained yesterday's steady performance on continued buying interest prompted by positive regional sentiment, dealers said. After 15 minutes of trading, the barometer FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 7.59 points better at 1,639.74, after opening 1.67 points higher at 1,633.82. HwangDBS Vickers Research said the key FBM KLCI may be eager to extend its 14.38 points gains recorded yesterday by riding on the positive momentum, following a surprisingly robust performance, albeit, on thin volume. "On the chart, the benchmark index could be challenging the resistance threshold of 1,635 next," it said in a note today. On the economic front, it said, the industrial production index (IPI) report for October is scheduled for release later today, with one media survey projecting an annual increase of 2.2 per cent for the month. Meanwhile, another dealer said investors may be tempted to lock in gains when the market kicks off trade today after the local bourse finished above the 1,630 points plateau. The Finance Index rose 40.81 points to 15,140.99, the Industrial Index gained 12.25 points to 2,713.7 and the Plantation Index added 35.15 points to 7,924.79. However, the Ace Index slipped 15.02 points to 4,160.04 but the FBMT100 advanced 46.62 points to 10,993.81, the FBM Emas garnered 45.59 points to 11,137.54 while the FBM Mid 70 index was 30.86 points better at 12,096.54. There were 110 gainers and 46 losers while 110 counters were unchanged, 1,374 counters untraded and 19 others were suspended. Volume stood at 50.39 million shares worth RM43.65 million. Among actives, Karambunai added one sen to 12 sen, DSC Solutions earned half-a-sen to 17 sen, Permaju rose two sen to 37.5 sen but Tiger Synergy shed one sen to 36.5 sen. Heavyweights, Maybank improved two sen to RM9.08 and CIMB increased four sen to RM7.64 while Sime Darby and Axiata were up three sen each at RM9.08 and RM6.22, respectively. -- BERNAMA

Ringgit opens slightly higher Posted: 10 Dec 2012 06:36 PM PST The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today on the back of greenback selling globally ahead of the US's Federal Open Market Committee meeting later today, dealers said. Most market players remained sidelined as they await the outcome of the two-day meeting, which could determine the current monetary policy's stance for the world's largest economy. At 9.05 am, the ringgit was quoted at 3.0585/0620 compared with Monday's 3.0595/0625. Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against other major currencies. It eased against the Singapore dollar to 2.5043/5063 compared on with yesterday's 2.5004/5039 but gained against the Japanese yen to 3.7100/7151 from 3.7148/7207 on Monday. The local currency also weakened against the British pound to 4.9147/9209 versus yesterday's 4.9062/9123 and slipped against the euro to 3.9568/9616 from 3.9489/9534, previously. -- BERNAMA

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Fiscal cliff negotiations ongoing: Boehner aide - Reuters Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:01 AM PST U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, November 28, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:10pm EST (Reuters) - Negotiations between the White House and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on averting the December 31 "fiscal cliff" are continuing but Republicans are awaiting a counter-offer from President Barack Obama, an aide to Boehner said on Monday. "The Republican offer made last week remains the Republican offer," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said. He said Boehner continues to "wait for the president to identify the spending cuts he's willing to make" in deficit-reduction negotiations. Last week, Boehner and his House leadership team sent Obama a proposal they said would produce $2.2 trillion in new savings over 10 years. It included $800 billion in new revenues that would be achieved through comprehensive tax reform. None of those new revenues would come from raising income tax rates on the 2 percent of families with the highest net incomes - a central Obama demand. Democrats have rejected Boehner's proposal, insisting that tax rates on the rich must be nailed down before negotiating further on how to proceed with tax reform efforts next year, along with new spending cuts for "entitlement" programs, such as the Medicare healthcare program for the elderly. The White House has proposed its own set of spending cuts that Republicans have rejected, arguing that they do not effectively deal with long-term rising costs of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs. On Sunday, Boehner met with Obama at the White House. Steel, on Monday, said "discussions with the White House are taking place." He did not say whether more face-to-face meetings are scheduled between the two key principles in the conflict. A Democratic aide, who asked not to be identified, said there was no indication that Sunday's talks between Obama and Boehner advanced efforts to avoid $600 billion in across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts that are due to begin in January if Congress and the White House cannot find a more suitable replacement. (Reporting By Richard Cowan; Editing by Bill Trott)

Jenni Rivera, 43, Mexican-American Singer and TV Star, Is Dead - New York Times Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:10 AM PST By LARRY ROHTER Published: December 10, 2012 Jenni Rivera, the Mexican-American singer and reality television star known as "the Diva of Banda," died early Sunday in a plane crash outside Monterrey, Mexico, after a performance there. She was 43. Ms. Rivera was one of the biggest stars of the genre known as banda, a brassy, percussive form of Spanish-language pop music invented in northern Mexico and perfected in the American Southwest. She sold more than 15 million records, was nominated three times for a Latin Grammy Award, and developed a reputation for hard-hitting lyrics that addressed relationships between the sexes with a frankness similar to that of American country music: one of her albums, released in 2007, was entitled "My Crazy Life." Banda is a style popular primarily among Mexican-Americans, Mexicans and Central Americans. But in recent years Ms. Rivera's popularity expanded to other Hispanic groups in the United States, thanks to three reality television programs broadcast on the Mun2 channel that starred Ms. Rivera or her five children. In the best known of the shows, "I Love Jenni," Ms. Rivera cultivated a tough-talking persona, prone to making hilarious, outrageous statements and unafraid of offending family or friends. "Have a great day, don't get pregnant," she would warn a daughter. Promotional material for the show, which went on the air in 2011 and began production of its third season last month, described her as "the mama with lots of drama." "It doesn't bother me at all that some people think I am too outspoken," Ms. Rivera said in 2011. "Actually, if they are thinking about me, it bothers them. But, oh well, they'll get over it." Ms. Rivera's tough-mother approach stemmed from her own experience. By the time she was 16, she was married and had given birth to her first daughter, Janney, known as Chiquis and featured in two reality shows on Mun2, a cable channel owned by NBC Universal. She was married three times, most recently to the former major league pitcher Esteban Loaiza, but the couple divorced this fall. When her plane crashed, Ms. Rivera was on her way to the Mexico City area, where she was scheduled to tape an episode of the Mexican version of the singing competition show "The Voice," on which she was a judge. She was also developing an English-language family comedy for ABC with the producers of the hit show "Designing Women."

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Brahim's aims to take in flight catering global Posted: 09 Dec 2012 05:51 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Inflight caterer, Brahim's Holdings Bhd, is aiming to provide premium halal food and beverage (F&B) to the domestic and international aviation sectors as part of its endeavour to expand its operations. Executive chairman Datuk Ibrahim Ahmad Badawi said the company has a strong foothold in various F&B operations from providing flight catering services to operating airport restaurants and restaurant franchises to upstream sugar refinery operations. "Quite a number of enquiries have been made to the company from international aviation companies such as Etihad, Gulf and Qatar Airways requesting Brahim's to provide flight kitchen services. "We've actually got a number of enquiries from flight kitchens overseas that want to start their own halal facility with Malaysia's expertise in setting up halal flight catering," he told Bernama. Brahim's recently forged a joint venture with the Jordanian government to set up its first overseas factory to manufacture products for the Jordanian military. The venture would also serve as Brahim's hub for the lucrative Middle East market, he said. The factory's official opening is slated for early January, he said. The company is also eyeing penetrating other overseas markets such as Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria and several other Middle Eastern countries. The company recently obtained its shareholders' approval to complete the acquisition of the remaining 49 per cent shareholdings in Brahim's-LSG Sky Chefs Holdings Sdn Bhd (BSLG) for RM130 million. Upon completion of the acquisition exercise, Brahim's will be able to consolidate BLSG as its wholly-owned subsidiary, and capture 100 per cent of its revenue and earnings in the provision of in-flight catering and related services. It will also transform the company into a global halal food and beverage group. With the acquisition, it will have fully Malaysianised operating company of the world's largest halal flight kitchen, marking the accomplishment of a Bumiputera-listed company in providing halal in-flight meals catering to over 30 international airlines out of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and more significantly to its single largest customer, Malaysia Airlines (MAS)," Ibrahim said. Recent newsreports projected that Brahim's revenue would soar to RM200 million next year mainly through the full acquisition of BLSG and the recently secured premium food court and a separate fast-food outlet deal at KLIA2. -- BERNAMA

FBM KLCI opens higher in early trade Posted: 09 Dec 2012 05:57 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened higher in early trading Monday, extending Friday's gains on continued buying support, dealers said. After 35 minutes of trading, the barometer FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 4.42 points better at 1,622.42, after opening 0.48 of a point higher at 1,618.25. HwangDBS Vickers Research has expected the local bourse to open slightly lower today after getting a lift in the final minutes of trading to close at an intra-day high of 1,617.77 on Friday. "Nevertheless, the key market barometer is expected to show resilience against a fairly quiet market backdrop. "On the chart, the immediate support and resistance lines are currently set at 1,600 and 1,617, respectively," the research house said in a note today. HwangDBS also said the monthly plantation statistics on production, inventory and exports for November are due for release around noon today. Meanwhile, the Finance Index rose 12.14 points to 15,052.33, the Industrial Index gained 4.87 points to 2,691.67 and the Plantation Index added 7.32 points to 7,845.61. However, the Ace Index slipped 3.25 points to 4,162.99, but the FBMT100 advanced 24.13 points to 10,883.27, the FBM Emas garnered 25.01 points to 11,030.91, while the FBM Mid 70 index was 6.1 points better at 11,030.91. There were 126 gainers and 78 losers while 134 counters were unchanged, 1,301 counters untraded and 18 others were suspended. Volume stood at 102.2 million shares worth RM66.69 million. Among actives, Tiger Synergy rose three sen to 41.5 sen, Time engineering gained 2.5 sen to 31.5 sen while Takaso Resources and Asia Media earned one sen each to 34 sen and 43.5 sen, respectively. Heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB improved three sen each to RM9.09 and 7.58, respectively, Sime Darby added one sen to RM9.01 and Axiata gained two sen to RM6. -- BERNAMA

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