theSun | WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 14 2009  15

business KLCI
STI
1,233.51
2,668.40
0.18
12.07
Nikkei
TSEC
10,076.56
7,596.60
60.17
3.28
Hang Seng 21,467.36 168.01 KOSPI 1,628.93 10.88
SCI 2,936.19 41.71 S&P/ASX200 4,785.7 45.9

KL market summary
OCTOBER 13, 2009
INDICES
FBMEMAS
CHANGE
8,296.01 +13.76
Share prices close higher
FBM-KLCI 1,233.51 +0.18 SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia closed sen to 80.5 sen, and Metronic added one sen
INDUSTRIAL 2,653.27 -9.26 higher yesterday despite an earlier mild profit to 12 sen. ISS Consulting was unchanged at
CONSUMER PROD 366.64 +0.25 taking, dealers said. 13.5 sen. The stock was in focus today after
INDUSTRIAL PROD 92.45 +0.19 They said the FBM KLCI traded in negative Formis Resources Bhd proposed to take
CONSTRUCTION 236.60 +1.63 territory throughout the morning session due control of the company.
TRADING SERVICES 159.65 +0.07
to some selling activities in selected heavy- Of the heavyweights, Sime Darby shed
FINANCE 10,356.66 +11.06
PROPERTIES 805.88 +7.03 weights. However, continued buying in the one sen to RM8.62 but Maybank gained
PLANTATION 5,987.58 +20.36 afternoon session helped pushed the index three sen to RM6.74.CIMB Group gained 12
MINING 308.02 UNCH back into positive territory. sen to RM12.16, Tenaga Nasional and IOI Corp
FBMSHA 8,396.70 +16.21 Topping the most active list was Talam added one sen each to RM8.23 and RM5.27 EXCHANGE RATES October 13, 2009
FBMACE 4,220.72 +73.81 Corporation which rose two sen to 9.5 sen respectively.
TECHNOLOGY 16.96 +0.17 while Silk Holdings increased 21 sen to 44.5 The Main Market turnover increased to Foreign currency Bank sell Bank buy Bank buy
TURNOVER VALUE
sen ahead of its upliftment from the Practice 820.767 million shares worth RM982.236 mil- TT/OD TT OD
Note 17 on Wednesday. lion compared with the 580.281 million shares 1 US DOLLAR 3.4220 3.3570 3.3470
939.925mil RM1.005bil
KNM Group meanwhile, inched up half at RM818.665 million yesterday. – Bernama
1 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR 3.1270 3.0330 3.0170
1 BRUNEI DOLLAR 2.4580 2.3970 2.3890
1 CANADIAN DOLLAR 3.3210 3.2400 3.2280

P1 gets nod
Merril Lynch
1 EURO 5.0650 4.9620 4.9420
1 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 2.5600 2.4450 2.4290

to roll out 1 PAPUA N GUINEA KINA

1 SINGAPORE DOLLAR
1.4130
2.4575
1.1670
2.3970
1.1510
2.3890

W1MAX in 1 STERLING POUND

1 SWISS FRANC
5.4180
3.3450
5.3070
3.2630
5.2870
3.2480

Sabah, S’wak
KUALA LUMPUR: Packet One
Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (P1)
announced yesterday it has received
upbeat on Asia Capello
plans for
100 ARAB EMIRATES DIRHAM
100 BANGLADESH TAKA
100 CHINESE RENMINBI
100 DANISH KRONE
100 HONGKONG DOLLAR
94.8000
5.2000
N/A
70.2100
44.9300
89.7700
4.6880
N/A
64.5000
42.5500
89.5700
4.4880
N/A
64.3000
42.3500

the necessary approvals to roll out
its P1 W1MAX service in Sabah and
sarawak.
To get as many Malaysians as pos-
sible to join the WiMAX revolution, the
P1 W1MAX roll-out will begin simulta-
neously in Sabah and Sarawak in first
quarter 2010, P1 said in a statement.
Kuching, Miri, Bintulu, Kota Kina-
balu, Sandakan and Tawau will be able
to enjoy the freedom of P1 W1MAX
broadband as early as the second
quarter next year, it said.
“Sabah and sarawak are a market
of tremendous importance to P1.
We’re truly excited and feeling very
gung ho about empowering the peo-
ple of both Sabah and Sarawak with
WiMAX soon,” said P1 chief executive
officer Michael Lai.
The deployment of WiMAX broad-
band is crucial in achieving the national
household broadband penetration
target of 50% by 2010, he said.
P1 W1MAX is primed to meet the
tremendous demand for broadband in
Sabah and Sarawak, Lai said.
“The household broadband pen-
etration rates of only 13.6% in Sarawak
and 9.5% in Sabah at the end of 2008
are still very low compared to the
national average,” he said.
With the fastest wireless broadband
network in the country, P1 expects to
contribute positively to the economy
in the two states, especially within the
small and medium enterprise (SME)
community and local state industries
such as tourism.
“Sabah has a lot to offer to the
world and broadband access can
make the discovery of the wonders
of this state to a wider interna-
tional market much easier,” Lai said.
– Bernama
Pacific economies
KUALA LUMPUR: Asia Pacific is like-
ly to make a faster economic recovery
than the global economy in 2010, with
gross domestic product (GDP) growth
to expand by 3.5% versus the forecast
of 1.6% growth for the world.
For this year, the region’s GDP was
expected to contract by 0.9%, less than
the 2.7% contraction forecast for the
world, said the Asia Pacific Wealth Re-
port released by Merril Lynch Global
Wealth Management and Capgemini.
The report said there were signs
that the region was emerging rela-
tively quickly from the global slump
and will ultimately suffer less severe
detrimental effects from the crisis than
other regions of the world.
Stronger-than-average growth in
emerging Asia, notably China and In-
dia, the report said, was likely to lessen
the effect of global economic crisis in
the region this year and significantly
contribute to its overall growth next
year.
“The 2008-2009 government policy
response of both China and India,
particularly fiscal stimulus, is expected
to lend significant support to those
economies in 2009-10.
“However, growth in India could be
undermined by drought,” it said.
Below-normal monsoon rains this
year have pushed around 40% of the
country’s districts into drought-like
conditions, which are likely to affect
farm output and trigger a sharp rise in
food prices. The report stated that the
overall business outlook for the region
100 INDIAN RUPEE 7.6400 7.0200 6.8200
doomsday 100 INDONESIAN RUPIAH 0.0375 0.0320 0.0270
pg 28 100 JAPANESE YEN 3.8270 3.7320 3.7220
100 NEW TAIWAN DOLLAR N/A N/A N/A
100 NORWEGIAN KRONE 62.9600 57.7800 57.5800
also remained promising. 100 PAKISTAN RUPEE 4.2200 3.9200 3.7200
The business environment in China 100 PHILIPPINE PESO 7.5100 7.0300 6.8300
and India were likely to improve sig- 100 QATAR RIYAL 95.4300 90.7700 90.5700
nificantly during the period of 2009-13. 100 SAUDI RIYAL 92.6400 88.1200 87.9200
For example, according to the Econo-
100 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND 48.3000 44.4200 44.2200
mist Intelligence Unit’s Business En-
100 SRI LANKA RUPEE 3.0800 2.8300 2.6300
vironment Ranking, China ranked 11
places higher for the 2009-13 forecast 100 SWEDISH KRONA 50.9400 46.3300 46.1300
period than it did for 2004-08. 100 THAI BAHT 11.0200 9.3400 8.9400
Unemployment in the region was Source: Malayan Banking Bhd/Bernama
also expected to be lower than the
global average.
The report explained that efforts to
increase employment were under way
AIG sells Taiwan unit
across the region, helping to underpin
its independent economic recovery.
for US$2.15bil
“Domestic-demand growth in Asia TAIPEI: American International requires approval from Taiwan’s
Pacific region is likely to outpace the Group said yesterday it would sell government.
average domestic-demand growth its Taiwan unit for US$2.15 billion AIG was on the brink of bank-
in the world consistently during the (RM7.31 billion) as the insurance ruptcy in September last year and
period of 2009-2013, and would help giant raised money to pay off a only survived after the US govern-
in faster economic recovery of the huge US government bail-out loan. ment offered it a financial lifeline in
region,” the report said. AIG announced that Hongkong- exchange for an 80% stake in the
It said this demand was likely to based Primus Financial Holdings company. The insurer, deemed too
be experienced by China and India, would take over Nan Shan, Taiwan’s big to be allowed to fail, now needs
forecast to grow at a compound an- number two life insurer, in what to repay US$121 billion (RM411.4
nual growth rate of 9.7% and 7.9% observers said was the largest deal billion) in US taxpayer aid.
respectively during the same period. ever to take place in the island’s Primus Financial has promised
Moving forward, the region could financial sector. not to change Nan Shan’s brand
focus on domestic-demand growth “(Primus) has pledged to continue or the existing compensation and
by building stronger social protection Nan Shan’s commitment to its policy benefits packages, AIG said in the
systems and reducing the pressure on holders, agents, and employees, as statement.
individuals to save for health, educa- well as to the people of Taiwan,” said “We have the highest respect for
tion and retirement needs. Robert Benmosche, AIG chief execu- Nan Shan’s dedicated management
Such efforts, the report added would tive officer, in a statement. team, agents and employees who
help to increase consumer confidence After an auction that lasted sev- have built the company into the
and stimulate private consumption eral months, Primus beat several prominent Taiwan institution that
and enable domestic currencies to rivals, including Taiwan’s Chinatrust it is today,” said Primus chairman
appreciate. – Bernama Financial Holding. The deal still Robert Morse. – AFP