Local…
Ringgit strongest in 10 years
The ringgit rose to the strongest in almost a decade as gains in stocks worldwide boosted the appetite for emerging market securities. The currency extended a four-week gain after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s Sept 18 meeting published Tuesday allayed concerns over a housing slump in the US, Malaysia’s biggest export destination. Global funds turned net buyers of Malaysia’s stocks in the first half of the year, from net sales in the same period in 2006.
Plantation stocks buck cautious market
Plantation stocks bucked the cautious market at midday on Oct 11, led by Golden Hope and KL Kepong, spurred by the rally on crude palm oil (CPO) futures.
CPO futures surged RM40 to RM2,790 per tonne for October delivery and for December it jumped RM45 to RM2,690. Aseambankers Equity Research is maintaining its Overweight call on the sector as the fundamentals appear to have improved, as evidenced by rising exports and flattish production trends.
DRB-Hicom to buy Bank Muamalat
DRB-Hicom Bhd yesterday announced its plan to acquire the entire 70% stake in Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd from Bukhary Capital Sdn Bhd, a company controlled by billionaire Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary (pic), in a move to position the group as a major Islamic financial services provider.
Abroad…
Blue chips deliver flurry of bad news
Blue-chip companies including Boeing, Alcoa, Monsanto and Chevron delivered a flurry of bad news on Wednesday, stoking fears that the credit squeeze and US housing meltdown are taking a heavier toll on companies than expected. More disappointments from the blue chips still to report, which include General Electric, IBM and Yahoo, would also deal a blow to the market’s confidence in US companies’ ability to withstand the current economic and financial troubles.
Toyota warns on domestic sales
Toyota, Japan’s leading carmaker, warned on Tuesday that its domestic sales were likely to fall short of forecasts, highlighting a sharp downturn in demand. Katsuaki Watanabe, the company’s president, said domestic sales were likely to drop to around 1.65m, or 4 per cent below its target of 1.72m for the year.
Moody’s upgrade cheers Tokyo stocks
Japanese shares climbed on Thursday, getting a lift from a decision by Moody’s to upgrade the country’s sovereign debt rating and by the debut of Sony Financial, Japan’s biggest listing this year.
Northern Rock shares gain again in London
Northern Rock (UK:NRK: news, chart, profile) shares advanced 19.9% to 206 pence a share in the top London index, the first time they have breached the 200 pence-a-share level since the end of September.
Apparently oil’s a bargain at $80 a barrel
Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah lamented that ,adjusted for inflation, oil is cheaper than it was in 1972 and that because it’s priced in U.S. dollars, and the dollar has been slumping lately, the purchasing power of the oil that gets sold is suffering, even though demand for the stuff has never been higher.
Hong Kong joins party of records in Asia
Indexes in Sydney, Seoul and Jakarta extended gains on Thursday to set intraday records, while Hong Kong stocks rose sharply to join them, led by resources stocks such as China Shenhua Energy.
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