12 theSun | WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2 2009

1,171.28  2.99
T 10,530.06 S
37.53
business KLCI
STI 2,596.39  3.49
S
Nikkei
TSEC 7,019.75 193.80
S
Hang Seng 19,872.30 148.11
S KOSPI 1,623.06 S
31.21
SCI 2,683.72 S
15.98 S&P/ASX200 4,514.60 S
35.50

KL market summary
SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
Shares end lower on lack of interest INDICES CHANGE
SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia ended lower MIMB Investment Bank said many were CONSTRUCTION: 225.12 -1.21
yesterday on lack of interest and cautious adopting the view that the market may have CONSUMER: 356.68 -1.86
play following the regional markets sell-off got ahead of itself and the time was ripe for FBMACE: 4,089.29 -56.24
on Monday despite a recovery in the region a breather. FBMEMAS: 7,888.62 -35.43
yesterday, said a dealer. As warned before, the ride could be bumpy FBM-KLCI: 1,171.28 -2.99
FBMSHA: 8,144.93 -53.62
At close, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala ahead as the economic recovery news could
FINANCE: 9,433.27 -0.65
Lumpur Composite Index dropped 2.99 points be filled with a mixed of good and bad news INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT: 88.80 -0.66
to 1,171.28 after opening 6.8 points lower at along the way, it said. INDUSTRIAL: 2,586.63 -7.36
1,167.47. It managed to recover some of its Top gainers were Riverview which added MINING: 332.34 -6.08
earlier losses as it touched an intra-day low 29 sen to RM2.45, Bumiputra-Commerce PLANTATIONS: 5,775.24 -62.18
of 1,163.78. which jumped 27 sen to RM10.22 and Kumpu- PROPERTIES: 770.44 -10.03 EXCHANGE RATES September 1, 2009
Kenanga’s head of research, Yeonzon lan Power which perked 13.5 sen to 57.5 TECNOLOGY: 16.38 -0.17
Yeow, said a cautious start in the local bourse, sen. Top loser was British American Tobacco, TRADING SERVICES: 154.98 -0.88
Foreign currency Bank sell Bank buy Bank buy
which was closed on Monday for Merdeka, which saw its share price decline by 90 sen TURNOVER VALUE TT/OD TT OD
was expected amid the sell-off in regional to RM45.00, followed by Ppedana which fell
498.525mil RM967.643 mil 1 US DOLLAR 3.5640 3.4990 3.4890
bourses and the global markets on Monday. 32 sen to RM3.80. – Bernama
1 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR 3.0410 2.9090 2.8930
1 BRUNEI DOLLAR 2.4800 2.4190 2.4110
1 CANADIAN DOLLAR 3.2660 3.1860 3.1740

Regional surveys show US

tion. “The Chicago PMI report is 1 EURO 5.1240 5.0000 4.9800
a further indication that the US 1 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 2.4760 2.3650 2.3490
economy is starting to improve,” 1 PAPUA N GUINEA KINA 1.4530 1.2060 1.1900
said Shaun Osborne, chief cur-
rency strategist at TD Securities 1 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 2.4795 2.4190 2.4110
in Toronto. 1 STERLING POUND 5.8210 5.6800 5.6600

economy picking up
Many strategists tied a jump in 1 SWISS FRANC 3.3760 3.2940 3.2790
new orders to the government’s 100 ARAB EMIRATES DIRHAM 98.7700 93.5400 93.3400
“cash for clunkers” programme, 100 BANGLADESH TAKA 5.3400 5.2100 5.0100
which got auto plants humming 100 CHINESE RENMINBI N/A N/A N/A
to meet demand for vehicles to
replace gas-guzzlers. 100 DANISH KRONE 70.9000 65.1200 64.9200
CHICAGO: A cluster of US country as a whole. ing very fast and we do have a “We think the success of 100 HONGKONG DOLLAR 46.8000 44.3300 44.1300
regional reports on Monday Still, a top Federal Reserve very high unemployment rate,” the clunker programme is now 100 INDIAN RUPEE 7.5900 6.9700 6.7700
showed business picking up policy-maker warned that the Dudley said. lifting the index,” said Ian Shep- 100 INDONESIAN RUPIAH 0.0369 0.0314 0.0264
steam in August, suggesting economy remains fragile, and Many analysts have guessed herdson, chief US economist at 100 JAPANESE YEN 3.8430 3.7500 3.7400
the national economy is finally that central bank policies seen that the US economy will return High Frequency Economics in 100 NEW TAIWAN DOLLAR N/A N/A N/A
breaking free of its deep reces- as critical to the recovery should to growth some time in the third Valhalla, New York.
sion. not be changed abruptly. quarter, and Monday’s data sug- The auto sector plays a 100 NORWEGIAN KRONE 61.2300 56.2500 56.0500
One report showed a nearly New York Fed President gested August may have been larger role in the Chicago region 100 PAKISTAN RUPEE 4.4100 4.1100 3.9100
year-long plunge in economic William Dudley told CNBC the clincher. economy than it does nation- 100 PHILIPPINE PESO 7.4700 7.0000 6.8000
activity in the relatively indus- television that it was too early The Institute for Supply ally. The Chicago area index, 100 QATAR RIYAL 99.4200 94.5700 94.3700
trialised US Midwest came to a to talk about curtailing the Fed’s Management-Chicago’s busi- which covers both the service 100 SAUDI RIYAL 96.5200 91.8200 91.6200
halt last month as new orders long-term security purchases. ness barometer rose to 50.0 and manufacturing sectors, is 100 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND 47.5900 43.5600 43.3600
and production rose sharply, “I think it’s a little premature in August, the dividing line often viewed as a bellwether of
potentially a harbinger for the ... The economy still isn’t grow- between growth and contrac- national trends. – Reuters 100 SRI LANKA RUPEE 3.2100 2.9500 2.7500
100 SWEDISH KRONA 51.9800 47.2400 47.0400
100 THAI BAHT 11.2400 9.5300 9.1300
Source: Bernama

briefs
OCBC Bank expects
positive growth
KUALA LUMPUR: OCBC Bank (M) Bhd
expects positive growth for 2009 fol-
lowing better-than-expected results for
first half of the year, its chief executive
officer Jeffrey Chew said yesterday.
For first half 2009, the bank recorded
a revenue of RM804 million, up by 5%
from RM763 million in the same period
last year, and a pre-tax profit of RM443
million, down by 8.79% from RM486
million previously.
“First half was nice, more than
what we expected. With the sharper
rebound, our numbers should be posi-
tive in the second half,” Chew said at a
media briefing here.
“We registered favourable figures
because we have business in all seg-
ments, but there are certain areas
where we can focus, especially where
the government will be the catalyst for
growth,” he said. – Bernama
France gets Swiss tax
info from three banks
PARIS: France obtained the names
of 3,000 suspected tax evaders
with Swiss accounts from three
banks, Budget Minister Eric Woerth
said yesterday, without specifying
whether they were Swiss institu-
tions.
“There were three banks, but I
am not saying whether they were
Swiss or not,” Woerth said.
Woerth caused a stir last week-
end when he revealed that France
had secured the names of people
suspected of holding undeclared
assets worth some 3 billion euros
(RM15.4 billion). France last week
signed a tax accord with Switzer-
land, under which the Swiss agreed
to share banking information upon
request from France’s fiscal au-
thorities, starting in January 2010.
– Reuters
Bank of America
mulls repaying aid,
says report
NEW YORK: Bank of
America is seeking to re-
pay some of the billions of
dollars in US government
aid it has received in a bid
to reduce federal involve-
ment in the company, The
Wall Street Journal reported
yesterday.
The federal government,
meanwhile, is pressing the
bank to pay about US$500
million (RM1.8 billion) to
end a tentative pact that
would have seen the gov-
ernment share its losses
on some Bank of America
assets, the Journal said,
citing people familiar with
the matter.
The move comes as
several US banks have
repaid government aid
they received as part of
the Troubled Asset Relief
Program (TARP), a federal
bailout.
Although Bank of
America is not seeking to
repay the full US$45 billion
(RM1.6 billion) of TARP aid
it obtained, the company
has proposed starting by
returning the US$20 billion
(RM72 billion) of additional
aid it received in January
while hesitating to take
over troubled investment
firm Merrill Lynch.
By repaying some of
the aid, the Charlotte,
North Carolina-based bank
would no longer have its
executive compensation
packages reviewed by Ken-
neth Feinberg, the “pay
czar” of President Barack
Obama’s administration.
But the Journal
cautioned that even
giving back the funds
would not end govern-
ment involvement in the
bank, which still operates
under a “memorandum
of understanding,” a strict
regulatory sanction that
requires it to improve its
risk and liquidity manage-
ment while also overhaul-
ing its board.
On top of the additional
TARP money, the govern-
ment agreed in January to
cover losses for a US$118
billion (RM425 billion) pool
of risky assets owned
by the bank and Merrill
Lynch.
Bank of America would
be responsible for the
first US$10 billion (RM36
billion) in losses, while
the government would
cover 90% of the remain-
ing assets, the newspaper
explained.
In return for the protec-
tion, the bank would issue
four billion dollars in pre-
ferred stock that carried
some US$320 million
(RM1.15 billion) worth of
annual dividends to the
Treasury Department.
It would also pay the
Federal Reserve 236 million
– two-tenths of a percent
of the value of the assets.
– AFP