#Stocks to watch:* Berjaya Retail, Ta Ann, banks, insurers

KUALA LUMPUR: Stocks on Bursa Malaysia could stage a mild rebound on Monday, March 14 after the sell-off on Friday following the devastating earthquake in Japan, the country's strongest on record, as sentiment tracks'' the overnight recovery in the US markets.

On Wall Street, shares initially fell as investors reeled from images of mass destruction after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami left at least 1,000 dead, Reuters reported. But the market reversed losses and notched solid gains as investors shook off fears of the quake's impact on Japan, the world's third largest economy. Japan's major cities and manufacturing facilities were not affected by the quake.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 59.79 points, or 0.50%, at 12,044.40. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 9.17 points, or 0.71%, at 1,304.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 14.59 points, or 0.54%, at 2,715.61.

Japan's central bank said it would cut short a two-day policy review scheduled for next week to one day on Monday and promised to do its utmost to ensure financial market stability.

As for key regional markets, which skidded Friday following the earthquake, investors would also await direction from the Japanese financial markets when they open on Monday.

On Bursa Malaysia, the FBM KLCI fell 1.40% or 21.29 points to 1,495.62 on Friday, weighed by losses including at banking stocks and key blue chips. Losers trounced gainers by 678 to 118, while 207 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.02 billion shares valued at RM1.85 billion.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.72% to 10,254.43, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.55% to 23,249.78, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.31% to 1,955.54, Singapore's Straits Times Index was down 1.04% to 3,043.49, Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.87% to 8,567.82 and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.79% to 2,933.80.

At Bursa Malaysia, stocks to watch include'' Berjaya Retail Bhd, TA ANN HOLDINGS BHD [], banks and insurers.

Pemier Merchandise Sdn Bhd (PMSB), which controls 58.71% of Berjaya Retail Bhd (B-Retail) has issued notice to take it private at 65 sen per share following the dismal performance of the shares since it was listed on Aug 16 last year. Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun is the ultimate controlling shareholder of PMSB.

Tan is also the ultimate controlling shareholder of PMSB and owns 100% of PMSB via HQZ Credit Sdn Bhd. As at March 11, PMSB held 878.269 million B-Retail shares directly, which represented about 58.71% of the paid-up.

B-Retail said the shares and ICPS had not traded at or above the offer price of 65 sen since the listing of B-Retail on Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd on Aug 16.

The five-day volume weighted average market price of B-Retail shares up to March 4, being the last trading day prior to the serving of the notice was 41.2 sen while for the ICPS, it was 33.5 sen.

At 41.2 sen, the offer for the shares at 65 sen each was a premium of 23.8 sen or 57.7%. The highest traded price since listing was 56.5 sen. As for the ICPS, the offer was a premium of 31.5 sen or 94%. Its highest traded price since listing was 51 sen.

Meanwhile, AmResearch said following the earthquake in Japan, it had have contacted timber players, who are also unsure of the extent of damage stemming from the latest earthquake and the aftershocks.

'Though reCONSTRUCTION []s are to be expected, the timber players do not expect a sudden and significant jump in timber exports towards the reconstruction process.

'Of the two timber companies under our coverage, Ta Ann exports 90% of its plywood production to Japan. Its timber products are shipped to trading houses in Osaka, which is located further south of Tokyo, in the central-southern region of Japan. We advise accumulate Ta Ann on weakness (UNDER REVIEW; FV: RM5.61/share) as the recent price pullback has caused an upside of more than 15% over our fair value for the stock,' it said.

Meanwhile banks and insurers are expected to be in focus after Bank Negara Malaysia raised the statutory reserve requirement (SRR) ratio from 1% to 2%, effective April 1, 2011, but it decided to maintain the overnight policy rate at 2.75%.

BNM also announced that from Jan 1, 2012, the third party insurance premium for private cars of 1,400cc will be adjusted between RM6 to RM34 per year, or a maximum of RM2.80 a month, over the next four years under a new framework. For commercial vehicles the impact of the premium adjustment on the passengers would be minimal at less than 10 sen per passenger.

This move to regulate the third party insurance premium would benefit general insurers like Kurnia and Allianz Malaysia.

OSK Research had initiated coverage of Allianz Malaysia with a BUY, at a target price of RM5.68, derived from a sum of parts valuation. It said riding on potentially strong growth in the life insurance industry and a re-rating of motor insurance, Allianz as the biggest general insurance player is poised to benefit from the encouraging industry outlook.

OSK Research said apart from being the No. 1 one player in Malaysia's general insurance industry with gross written premiums (GWP) totaling RM1.3 billion in FY10, Allianz's life insurance business is no less a consistent performer, chalking up RM1 billion in GWP on the back of a robust double digit growth of 18.5% in FY10.

On the hike in the statutory reserve requirement, AmResearch said based on its estimations, a 1% hike in the SRR rate would absorb RM6 billion to RM7 billion from the banking system. Excess liquidity in the financial system currently is estimated at around RM250 billion.

'In terms of the banking sector, we believe the impact of the SRR hike will be minimal, as liquidity and lending abilities in the banking system will remain unaffected,' it said.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Oil slips but stocks rebound on Japan's recovery

NEW YORK:'' Japan's massive earthquake and devastating tsunami hit commodities prices on Friday, March 11, but equity investors threw off their initial fears as they reassessed damage to the world's third-largest economy.

Early in the session markets reeled as television images revealed the destruction in Japan's north east after the country's biggest earthquake on record left at least 1,000 dead.

But some viewed the market's reaction as having gone too far too fast, and that a rebuilding of Japan could be good for a wide range of markets.

"It's generally a mistake for people to be too reactive to a natural disaster like this," said Howard Ward, a fund manager at the GAMCO Growth Fund.

Caterpillar Inc and other heavy equipment makers saw their stocks rise, and gold turned higher after the U.S. dollar weakened against the euro. Copper prices steadied by the close, recovering from an earlier three-month low.

The yen soared as the magnitude 8.9 quake spurred a safety bid. The Japanese currency could rise further next week if insurers scramble to raise cash by selling foreign assets, such as U.S. government debt, a potential move bond investors also were monitoring.

The quake, the most powerful since Japan started keeping records 140 years ago, sparked at least 80 fires in coastal cities and towns, Kyodo said. Japanese nuclear power plants and oil refineries were shut and one refinery was ablaze.

Thanos Bardas, a portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman in Chicago, said the U.S. government bond market was totally confused, caught like a deer in the headlights.

"The long-term response is counterintuitive," he said. "You have this event risk that drives people into Treasuries, but on the other hand you have things that need to be rebuilt so that means maybe higher global growth and higher yields, globally."

U.S. crude dipped below $100 before paring some losses. Japan is the world's third-largest energy consumer and imports almost all its energy needs.

MSCI's all-country world index of global stocks <.MIWD00000PUS> fell to a five-week low but then rose 0.2 percent in late trade.

Japanese equity futures fell 3.3 percent, but some investors said shares may not suffer a deep slide because major cities and manufacturing facilities were not damaged.

Tsunami warnings were lifted for some densely populated Asia Pacific countries previously thought to be at risk.

The quake shut refineries and other industrial facilities in Japan, driving oil lower. North Sea Brent was poised to post a weekly loss for the first time in seven weeks, with U.S. crude on track to end down for the first week in four.

The oil market also monitored a planned day of protests in top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and the violence in Libya, where oil exports have been disrupted.

"From an oil pricing perspective, the situation in Japan is likely to result in a negative impact on crude oil prices and a positive for refined products," said Dominick Chirichella, senior partner at the Energy Management Institute in New York.

Brent crude futures for April delivery settled down $1.59 at $113.84 a barrel. U.S. crude futures for April delivery fell $1.54 to settle at $101.16 a barrel.

European shares fell to a 2011 closing low, with insurers among the hardest hit, but U.S. stocks rose, led by a 1.6 percent gain in the S&P energy index <.GSPE> and refining shares. Valero Energy Corp was up 6.3 percent and Tesoro Corp up 8.5 percent.

Wall Street was helped by a 1.0 percent rise in U.S. retail sales in February, the largest gain in four months, as shoppers stepped up purchases of autos, clothes and other goods even as they spent more for gasoline.

News that U.S. consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in five months in early March as gas prices rose later took some of the glow off the retail sales report. [ID:nN10186886]

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 59.79 points, or 0.50 percent, at 12,044.40. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 9.17 points, or 0.71 percent, at 1,304.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 14.59 points, or 0.54 percent, at 2,715.61.

The dollar fell 1.2 percent to 81.87 yen , its biggest one-day decline since Dec. 3, while the yen also rallied against the euro, pound and Swiss franc.

Gold pushed higher, underpinned by the Japan quake and Mideast turmoil.

U.S. Treasury debt prices dropped on fears that Japanese insurers may need to sell bonds to pay for damages.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note shed 10/32 in price to yield 3.40 percent. - Reuters

US STOCKS-Energy leads Wall St after Saudi protests fizzle

NEW YORK: U.S. stocks closed the week on a high note on Friday, March 11, on relief that unrest did not engulf top oil producer Saudi Arabia, calming some investors who worried the market was entering a near-term slide.

Stocks snapped back from early-week losses even as other markets were hit hard by a devastating earthquake in Japan, the country's strongest on record. Oil refiners and industrial-related shares led Wall Street higher.

Investors had been on edge that planned "Day of Rage" protests in Saudi Arabia could lead to further instability in the Middle East and North Africa. Those fears had intensified after police used force to disperse demonstrators in Riyadh on Thursday.

"The Day of Rage in Saudi Arabia did not end up causing as much of a stir as they thought," said said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. in San Francisco. "That's been the concern all week."

Shares initially fell as investors reeled from images of mass destruction after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami left at least 1,000 dead. But the market reversed losses and notched solid gains as investors shook off fears of the quake's impact on Japan, the world's third largest economy. Japan's major cities and manufacturing facilities were not affected by the quake.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 59.79 points, or 0.50 percent, at 12,044.40. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 9.17 points, or 0.71 percent, at 1,304.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 14.59 points, or 0.54 percent, at 2,715.61.

Refiners Valero Energy Corp rose 6.3 percent and Tesoro Corp jumped 8.4 percent after Japan's oil refining capacity was hit by the earthquake and tsunami.

Howard Ward, a fund manager at the GAMCO Growth Fund, said speculative moves would likely be a short-lived overreaction. "It's generally a mistake for people to be too reactive to a natural disaster like this," he said.

Short sellers were quick to react to the quake. The ProShares UltraShort MSCI Japan exchange traded fund, which amplifies the reverse of the underlying MSCI Japan index by a factor of two, rose 3.2 percent on over 100 times its usual volume.

Japanese shares traded in New York fell sharply. The Bank of New York Mellon's index of Japanese ADR's lost 2.1 percent. Toyota Motor Corp lost 2.1 percent to $85.65.

Investors said some industrial shares could benefit in the rebuilding operation in Japan but said information on the extent of damage was still scarce.

"The long-term impact is probably going to favor large equipment CAT-type stocks and some of the basic materials," said Pado, referring to heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar Inc.

Caterpillar shares rose 1.7 percent to $100.02. The Dow Jones industrials index rose 1 percent.

Stocks of global insurers were also in the spotlight on expectations of claims for damages.

Among insurers in the United States likely to have exposure in Japan, Aflac Inc fell 0.3 percent to $55.55 and Berkshire Hathaway Inc rose 0.4 percent to $85.26. The KBW Insurance index rose 0.6 percent.

Analysts said images and reports from Japan's disaster zone so far did not suggest a major economic disaster.

U.S. dollar denominated-Nikkei stock futures fell 2.8 percent, but market players said Japanese market may not suffer too deep a slide going forward because of the lack of impact on major cities and manufacturing facilities.

Brent crude futures fell 1.4 percent to below $114, and U.S. crude was off 1.6 percent at about $101.

A survey released on Friday showed U.S. consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in five months in early March as gas prices rose.

The data raised questions about the resilience of U.S. consumers after the Commerce Department separately reported that retail sales rose 1.0 percent in February, the largest gain since October and in line with expectations.

Volume was about 7.13 billion shares on the Nasdaq, NYSE and AMEX, below last year's daily average of 8.47 billion.- Reuters

New motor cover framework for better access at reasonable prices, says Bank Negara

KUALA LUMPUR: From Jan 1, 2012, the third party insurance premium for private cars of 1,400cc will be adjusted between RM6 to RM34 per year, or a maximum of RM2.80 a month, over the next four years under a new framework.

Meanwhile, motorcycles of 110cc will experience a premium increase of between RM1 to RM3.50 per year.

For commercial vehicles such as outstation taxis and buses, the impact of the premium adjustment on the passengers would be minimal at less than 10 sen per passenger.

Categories of vehicles such as hire and drive taxis which have good claims record will benefit from a reduction in premiums or lower quantum of increase in premiums.

In a statement Friday, March 11, Bank Negara Malaysia said the new motor cover framework would provide a holistic solution to the issues that had been raised, and address in particular the concerns of high premiums and difficulty in having access to motor cover.

The central bank said a two-pronged strategy had been adopted to enhance efficiency in the provision of motor cover with a gradual price adjustment that would ensure that the public was able to purchase motor insurance at affordable premiums, benefit from a much better service and secure early compensation.

'The tariff that has not been revised for more than 30 years has been a major source of the difficulties faced by the public in these recent years.

'While the premium has not been adjusted, there have been significant increases in the level of car ownership, accident rate and claims,' it said.

Bank Negara said the new framework would also involve immediate implementation of critical measures to enhance efficiency in claims settlement including the establishment of a nationwide 24-hour call centre to provide immediate roadside assistance to accident victims, facilitating early and simpler claims notification, shorter timelines to produce police and medical reports, and enhancing public awareness on making more prompt motor insurance claims.

These enhancements will significantly reduce the average claims settlement period from the present 1 to 5 years to 6 to 18 months, it said.

A Joint Working Committee (JWC), chaired by Bank Negara Malaysia comprising representatives from key Government ministries, the insurance industry and consumer and business groups will oversee the successful implementation of these identified measures, it said.

The central bank also said that currently, some private vehicle owners had been subjected to high premiums arising from policies purchased from the Malaysian Motor Insurance Pool (MMIP), which is the insurer of last resort.

'While this had been widely highlighted and reported, this accounts for only about 2% of the total number of vehicles insured in Malaysia.

'It comprises mainly private cars of more than 10 years old,' it said.

To address this issue, the rules and operations of the MMIP is being reviewed to ensure that these motor vehicle owners are not necessarily deemed as high risk and will have greater access to motor cover at a lower premium, it said.

For the pure high risks vehicles, access to such cover would be available through the MMIP but will be subject to the appropriate premium commensurate with the risk.

Bank Negara said it also prohibited insurance companies to compel policy owners to purchase additional non motor related cover such as personal accident policy, when purchasing motor cover.

'Bank Negara Malaysia will take stern action on such errant companies.

'Since 2009, a total of 37 complaints on forced selling were received and actions have been taken on the insurance companies that have resulted in premiums being refunded to the policy holders,' it said.

Members of the public who have difficulty obtaining motor cover or who have been compelled to buy other covers were advised to contact the Bank Negara Malaysia hotline directly at TELELINK: 1 300 88 5465.

Vincent Tan to take Berjaya Retail private at 65 sen per share

KUALA LUMPUR: Premier Merchandise Sdn Bhd (PMSB), which controls 58.71% of Berjaya Retail Bhd has issued notice to take it private at 65 sen per share following the dismal performance of the shares since it was listed on Aug 16 last year.

B-Retail said on Friday, March 11 that PMSB had served a notice of unconditional takeover offer to take it private by buying the shares and irredeemable convertible preference shares (ICPS) which it does not own at 65 sen each.

Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun Tan has a direct stake of 7.67% and indirect stake of 77.49% in B-Retail.

Tan is also the ultimate controlling shareholder of PMSB and owns 100% of PMSB via HQZ Credit Sdn Bhd. As at March 11, PMSB held 878.269 million B-Retail shares directly, which represented about 58.71% of the paid-up.

B-Retail said the shares and ICPS had not traded at or above the offer price of 65 sen since the listing of B-Retail on Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd on Aug 16.

The five-day volume weighted average market price of B-Retail shares up to March 4, being the last trading day prior to the serving of the notice was 41.2 sen while for the ICPS, it was 33.5 sen.

At 41.2 sen, the offer for the shares at 65 sen each was a premium of 23.8 sen or 57.7%. The highest traded price since listing was 56.5 sen.

As for the ICPS, the offer was a premium of 31.5 sen or 94%. Its highest traded price since listing was 51 sen.

'The board has deliberated on the notice and does not intend to seek an alternative person to make a take-over offer for the offer shares and/or offer ICPS,' it said.

B-Retail said the board would appoint an independent adviser to advise the independent directors and minority shareholders on the reasonableness of the offer.

PMSB said in a separate statement issued via Maybank Investment Bank, said Tan, who was acting in concert with it, had direct and indirect stake of 73.62% prior to the conversion of the B-Retail ICPS by PMSB.

At the date of the notice, Tan's combined direct and indirect interest in B-Retail was 85.16%.

Since PMSB already owns more than 50% of the total voting shares of B-Retail at the date of the notice, the offer is not conditional upon any minimum number of valid acceptances of the offer shares or offer ICPS received.

#Update* BNM ups statutory reserve requirement from 1pct to 2pct, OPR unchanged

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia raised the statutory reserve'' requirement (SRR) ratio from 1% to 2%, effective April 1, 2011 but it decided to maintain the overnight policy rate at 2.75%.

It said on Friday, March 11 that large shifts in global liquidity had resulted in significant capital flows into emerging economies, and in particular, into the Asian region.

BNM cautioned the consequent build-up of liquidity in the domestic financial system, if not managed carefully, could create risks to macroeconomic and financial stability.

'In the case of Malaysia, the assessment is that the increase in liquidity in the domestic financial system has thus far been well intermediated. The decision to raise the SRR is now undertaken as a pre-emptive measure to manage the risk of this build-up of liquidity from resulting in macroeconomic and financial imbalances,' it said.

BNM said the increase in the SRR was an instrument to manage liquidity and not a signal on the stance of monetary policy.

It explained the OPR was the sole indicator to signal the monetary policy stance which was released after the monetary policy committee meeting.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement after the MPC meeting, it said the Malaysian economy, based on latest available indicators suggest continued expansion in private consumption and sustained business spending activity amid more modest growth in external demand.

'Going forward, economic growth is expected to be moderate in the earlier part of the year and to improve during the course of the year, driven by strong expansion in domestic demand.

'Private consumption will continue to be an important driver of growth, supported by sustained employment and income growth. Private investment is also projected to strengthen, underpinned by the improving outlook for the domestic economy and further expansion of new growth industries,' it said.

On inflation, it said domestic headline inflation rose to 2.4% in January 2011 and it expected domestic prices to continue to rise in the latter part of the year

BNM said the factors for the increase would be mainly due to the significant increases in global commodity and energy prices.

However, it said some incipient signs that domestic demand factors could result in possible upward pressure on prices in the latter part of the year in line with the sustained expansion in economic activity.

The central bank said moving forward, the stance of monetary policy is expected to remain supportive of growth.

However, 'the degree of monetary accommodation may be reviewed' given the sustained growth in the economy and risks to inflation. It explained this was to ensure the sustainable growth of the Malaysian economy.

George Kent 4Q net profit RM9.38m, up 29.5pct from RM7.24m yr ago

KUALA LUMPUR: GEORGE KENT (M) BHD []'s earnings rose 29.5% to RM9.38 million in the fourth quarter ended Jan 31, 2011 from RM7.24 million a year ago due to higher sales achieved for project related works.

It said on Friday, March 11 that revenue rose 16% to RM47.92 million from RM41.25 million due to higher sale of meters, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) products and project related jobs.

Its earnings per share were 4.2 sen and it proposed dividend of three sen per share.

For FY10, its earnings rose 26.3% to RM25.10 million from RM19.86 million.'' Revenue for the year rose to RM165.04 million from RM125.07 million.

Japan earthquake rattles already jittery markets

KUALA LUMPUR:'' Asian markets extended their losses on Friday, March 11 after a massive earthquake hit Japan at noon, triggering widespread tsunami warnings in the Pacific Basin and leading to the closure of all Japanese ports.

The news of the earthquake rattled already jittery Asian and European markets that have been weighed down by the escalating tensions in the Mid-east as well as renewed concerns over the global economic growth prospects on the back of less than encouraging data that came out of the US, Japan and China over the past two days.

The FBM KLCI fell 1.40% or 21.29 points to 1,495.62, weighed by losses including at banking stocks and key blue chips. Losers trounced gainers by 678 to 118, while 207 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.02 billion shares valued at RM1.85 billion.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.72% to 10,254.43, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.55% to 23,249.78, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.31% to 1,955.54, Singapore's Straits Times Index was down 1.04% to 3,043.49, Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.87% to 8,567.82 and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.79% to 2,933.80.

MIDF Research head Zulkifli Hamzah said the earthquake in Japan had amplified the market's conundrum.

'Although the yen is holding and crude oil price even easing off, events in Japan are causing further disequilibrium in the world's commodity markets. At this juncture, the vibes are wrong for investment in risky assets,' he said.

On Bursa Malaysia, banking stocks were among the major losers with Public Bank down 12 sen to RM13, AMMB 10 sen to RM6.36, Maybank nine sen to RM8.71, HLFG eight sen to RM8.74, RHB Capital seven sen to RM7.95 and CIMB six sen to RM7.98.

Axiata fell 12 sen to RM4.77, Genting 26 sen to RM10, KLK 22 sen to RM20.66,'' IOI Corp 10 sen to RM5.61, Petronas Chemicals 16 sen to RM6.56, MISC 20 sen to RM7.50, Sime seven sen to RM9.03 and Maxis fell 11 sen to RM5.40.

Other decliners included BAT, Hong Leong Industries, PPB, LPI Capital, Lafarge Malayan Cement and Batu Kawan.

Gainers included Nestle, Bintulu Port, BLD PLANTATION []s, HELP, JT International and Lysaght.

Perisai was the most active with 48.4 million shares done. The stock added 2.5 sen to 67.5 sen.

Other actives included Petronas Chemicals, Borneo Oil, Tanco, Scomi and Axiata.

MARC withdraws ratings on Mulpha Intl's RM75m debt notes

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) has withdrawn its MARC-1ID(bg)/AA-ID(bg) ratings assigned to MULPHA INTERNATIONAL BHD []'s (Mulpha) RM75 million Islamic debt notes.

MARC said on Friday, March 11 the withdrawal of the ratings on the bank guaranteed murabahah notes issuance facility (Munif) with immediate effect followed the cancellation of the programme.

The cancellation was confirmed by the facility agent, AmInvestment Bank Bhd. There were no notes outstanding under the facility prior to cancellation.

'With the cancellation of the bank guaranteed MUNIF, MARC's rating coverage on Mulpha is now limited to its existing RM25 million murabahah commercial papers/medium term notes (CP/MTN) facility, which carry the ratings of MARC-1ID/AID/Stable,' it said.

KLCI falls further, below 1,500

KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips fell further in afternoon trade on Friday, March 11, with the FBM KLCI falling more than 18 points, dragged by Genting.

However, trading volume was relatively thin but the broader market displayed the caution among investors with declining stocks hammering advancers nearly seven to one.

At 2.54pm, the KLCI was down 18.11 points to 1,498.80. Turnover was 559.88 million shares valued at RM858.66 million. There were 556 losers, 82 gainers and 203 stocks unchanged.

BAT was the top loser, down 54 sen to RM45.70, PPB 52 sen to RM16.48, KLK 22 sen to RM20.66 while Batu Kawan, Genting and YTL lost 20 sen each to RM15.18, RM10.06 and RM7.11 respectively.

Reuters reported Asian shares fell as weak economic data and spreading unrest in Saudi Arabia prompted some profit taking, while the euro looked shaky after its biggest one-day fall versus the dollar in a month.

Japan's Nikkei average closed down 1.7 percent at 10,254.43 points after an earthquake measuring 7.9 struck off the northeast coast of Japan, strongly shaking buildings in Tokyo.

Hong Kong stocks slipped 1.8% in early afternoon trade.

China's main stock index closed down 0.8% as investors remained wary that liquidity will tighten after economic data showed prices rose steadily in the first two months of the year.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended at 2,933.8 points, after a 1.5% drop on Thursday. The index ended the week down 0.3% after a run-up in energy and bank stocks early in the week was tempered by profit-taking.

Petronas Chemical falls in heavy trade, in line with weak markets

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Chemicals, which had a strong run-up in its share price this week after it was upgraded, snapped its winning streak as investors took profit on Friday, March 11

At 3.15pm, PChem fell 20 sen to RM6.52 with 19.23 million shares done.

The FBM KLCI extended its losses in line with the key regional markets which were buffeted by the Mid-east worries, record high oil prices and then the earthquake in Japan.

The KLCI fell 22.36 points to 1,494.55. Turnover was 646.5 million shares done valued at RM1.04 billion. There were 79 gainers versus 611 losers and 185 stocks were unchanged.

China's main stock index closed down 0.8% as investors remained wary that liquidity will tighten after economic data showed prices rose steadily in the first two months of the year.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended at 2,933.8, after a 1.5% drop on Thursday.

Hong Kong stocks slipped 1.8% in early afternoon trade as the Japanese market fell following a strong earthquake off Japan's northeast coast.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks fall on Mideast crisis, oil firm

HONG KONG: Asian shares dipped on Friday, March 11 as weak economic data and spreading unrest in Saudi Arabia prompted some profit taking, while the euro looked shaky after its biggest one-day fall versus the dollar in a month.

Brent crude held near $115 per barrel as investors monitored developments in the Middle East. Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi battled rebels at an oil port, while Saudi police fired in the air to disperse protesting Shi'ites.

Oil prices are up by a quarter this year, with most of the gains coming since the Libyan crisis erupted.

While oil prices around this level posed no substantial threats to the world economy or financial markets, the risk that prices may rise to damaging levels has risen substantially, Barclays Capital strategists said.

Chinese inflation in February remained around 5 percent, suggesting tighter monetary policy may be needed, adding to the uncertainty.

Key stock indexes in Australia and South Korea closed down more than 1 percent each. The broader Asian market outside Japan also fell about 1 percent, extending its drop by more than 3 percent for the week as fresh outbreaks of violence in the Middle East kept markets on edge.

Japan's Nikkei average closed down 1.7 percent at 10,254.43 points after an earthquake measuring 7.9 struck off the northeast coast of Japan, strongly shaking buildings in Tokyo. The benchmark was lower throughout the day on worries over the Middle East. The broader Topix index ended down 1.7 percent at 915.51.

Despite this week's weak trade data from China, Hong Kong and Chinese shares were poised for small weekly gains, suggesting investors may be returning to emerging markets after a sharp selloff earlier this year.

Weak U.S. economic data spurred some profit taking in shares in developed markets which have enjoyed a handsome run this year, though some bargain buying checked losses. .

''

JAPAN QUAKE

Japanese shares tumbled to a five-week low, falling 1.7 percent after an earthquake measuring 7.9 struck off Japan, shaking buildings in Tokyo.

Overnight, a weak Wall Street which ended down nearly 2 percent. The S&P 500 is up by a third since last July.

"It is another day of reducing risk across the portfolio. We have had it one way for too long and with big issues hitting, everyone is running to the exit at the same time," Chris Weston, an institutional dealer at IG Markets said.

In credit markets, sovereign credit default swap spreads pushed wider, reflecting the general risk aversion sentiment.

Shanghai copper rebounded but was on track to post its biggest weekly loss since May 2010 while London futures were looking at their worst week since last June, dragged by worries of high oil prices hurting the global economy.

The drop in stocks lifted demand for U.S. Treasuries. Benchmark 10-year notes held near a 1-1/2 month low of 3.39 percent, down from 3.56 percent hit earlier this month.

In currency markets, the euro stayed weak after having suffered its biggest one-day fall against the dollar in a month, and further losses may loom if a euro zone summit fails to soothe market nerves on sovereign debt.

Any disappointment could heap more pressure on the single currency, which slid to one-week lows near $1.3770 overnight. It last traded at $1.3820 . - Reuters

SPNB: LRT extension costs to stay within RM7b

KUALA LUMPUR: Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (SPNB) said the costs for the extensions of the Kelana Jaya light rail transit (LRT) line and the Ampang LRT line would not exceed the RM7 billion budget.

SPNB group director of project development division, Zulkifli Mohd Yusoff said on Friday, March 11 that RM2 billion had been raised so far and the remaining RM5 billion sukuk would be 'raised in 2012 and so on'.

'We are confident the RM7 billion will not be exceeded,' he said at a briefing to update the media on the CONSTRUCTION [] of the LRT extension projects.

As for the completion date for the extensions, he said: 'The target completion date would be early 2014. The revenue service date, which is the date when it is opened to passengers, would be by mid-2014.'

Zulkifli said work on the extension of the Kelana Jaya LRT line and the Ampang LRT line are expected to pick up pace''by end-March.

'Currently advance works are being carried out for the Kelana Jaya and Ampang lines,' he said.

Zulkifli said These involve the relocation of telecommunication cables, TENAGA NASIONAL BHD [] (TNB) low voltage (underground) cables, high voltage transmission lines, water mains and sewerage pipes, as well as gas pipelines.

'About15%of the advance works for the Kelana Jaya line extension, and about 30% of the works for the Ampang line extension are completed,' he said. The site possession for Gas Malaysia's relocation is pending due to the land acquisition process, he added.

The facilities works involve the construction of the infrastructure components such as the guide way, piers and stations, as well as the casting and delivery of segmental box girders for both lines.

Zulkifli said for facilities works, the site possession for Kelana Jaya and Ampang lines were on Jan 20 and Feb 23, 2011 respectively.

'However, target to commence physical works will be at the end of March 2011 subject to the approval of development orders and work permits of local authorities,' he added.

He said the projects obtained sectional final approval in 2010. For the Kelana Jaya line extension, the approval is to station 10 while the approval for the Ampang line extension is station 11.

He explained the contract for facilities work was via packages A and B. For the Kelana Jaya Line, package A is for facilities work from Kelana Jaya to station 7 which was 9.2km. The Ampang line package A is from Sri Petaling station to station 5, covering 7.4km,

Zulkifli said the tender for the facilities works under package B would be closed for submission in March 1. He added it would take two to three months to evaluate and then to be submitted to the Finance Minister.

He said package B for the Kelana Jaya Line would be from station 7 to Putra Heights covering 7.8km. The Ampang Line would cover 10.3km, which would be from station 5 to Putra Heights.

As for the fares, he said the proposal was that they would be maintained, depending on the distance travelled. However, there could be a review of the fares later.

To recap, SPNB is a wholly-owned government company set up by the Finance Ministry to undertake public infrastructure projects. SPNB owns and operates several public transport providers, which are the Ampang and Kelana Jaya lines, KL Monorail system and the bus operation in the Klang Valley and Penang.

Banks, plantations weigh on FBM KLCI at mid-day

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI fell more than 1% at the mid-day break on Friday, March 11 in line with the overall tepid sentiment at key regional markets following the overnight slump at Wall Street.

US stocks tumbled in one of their worst daily performance yesterday since August 2010, hammered by the disappointing economic news flow from US, China and Spain.

The FBM KLCI fell 1.05% or 15.87 points to 1,501.04, weighed by losses including at banking and index-linked PLANTATION [] stocks.'' The index had earlier fallen to its intra-morning low of 1,498.93.

The ringgit weakened 0.2% to 3.0385 versus the US dollar; crude palm oil for the third month delivery added RM13 per tonne to RM3,445; oil slipped 12 cents per barrel to US$102.58 while gold rose US$3.68 per troy ounce to US$1,415.48.

Losers thumped gainers by 503 to 84, while 214 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 478.3 million shares valued at RM699.58 million.

Asian shares dipped on Friday as spreading unrest in Saudi Arabia and weak economic data spurred some profit taking while the euro looked shaky after its biggest one-day fall versus the dollar in a month.

Key stock indexes in Japan, Australia and South Korea fell nearly 1 percent. China's report that inflation in February remained around the 5 percent mark, suggesting tighter monetary policy may be needed, added to uncertainty.

BIMB Securities Research in a note March 11 said that given the disappointing Wall Street sentiment and added with the negative economic development plaguing the major economic superpower house, it'' expects the selling pressure in local and regional market to be inevitable.

Japan's Nikkei 225 -0.82% 10,348.45 Hang Seng Index -0.77% 23,432.85 South Korea's Kospi -1.34% 1,955.08 Taiwan's Taiex -0.89% 8,565.92 Singapore's Straits Times Index -0.79% 3,051.18 Shanghai Composite Index -0.27% 2,949.12 ''

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Among the major losers on Bursa Malaysia, AMMB fell eight sen to RM6.38, RHB Capital and HLFG six sen each to RM7.96 and RM8.76, Public Bank, CIMB and Maybank four sen each to RM13.08, RM8 and RM8.76 respectively, while Hong Leong Bank fell two sen to RM9.30.

Among the plantation-related stocks, PPB fell 26 sen to RM16.74, KLK 22 sen to RM20.66, Batu Kawan 16 sen to RM15.22, IOI Corp 12 sen to RM5.59, Sime Darby five sen to RM9.05 and Boustead six sen to RM5.53.

Gainers this morning included Nestle, JT International, HELP, Scientex, NPC, Kretam and AZRB.

The actives included Perisai, Petronas Chemicals, Borneo Oil, Petra, Tanco and Sumatec.

FBM KLCI extends losses at mid-morning

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI extended its losses on Friday, March 11 in line with the decline at key regional markets following the overnight tumble at Wall Street.

Asian shares fell on Friday as weak US economic data and unrest in Saudi Arabia prompted investors to sell riskier assets, while the euro looked shaky after its biggest one-day fall against the dollar in a month, according to Reuters.

Increased demand for safe haven assets pushed Treasuries and precious metals higher after Saudi police fired in the air to disperse protesting Shi'ites, reviving fears of possible supply disruptions from the world's top oil exporter, it said.

The FBM KLCI fell 0.99% or 14.96 points to 1,501.95 at mid-morning. Losers thumped gainers by 384 to 48, while 119 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 205.90 million shares valued at RM235.67 million.

At the regional markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.83% to 10,347.34, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.67% to 23,455.71, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.56% to 1,950.65, Taiwan's Taiex was down 0.88% to 8,566.79, Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.73% to 3,052.99 while the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.06% to 2,955.29.

MIDF Research head Zulkifli Hamzah said the fall in the market was expected after the overnight bloodbath in Europe and the US.

However, he pointed out that foreign investors had been picking up stocks on Bursa Malaysia.

They turned net buyers on Friday last week, the first time since January, and continued to be net buyers on Tuesday and Wednesday, he said in a note March 11.

He said the market was likely to be subdued today after Moody's downgraded Spain and the Dow closed below the psychological 12,000 points.

'We are not unduly concerned over Spain's downgrade. It is down one notch and but is still rated at Aa2.

'We are more concerned of other countries such as Ireland and Greece, should crude oil continues to rise. The investment angle is the foreign buying trend,' he said.

Among the major losers in early trade, KLK fell 26 sen to RM20.62, Batu Kawan lost 16 sen to RM15.22, Cepco 15 sen to RM1.90, Genting 14 sen to RM10.12, YTL Cement 13 sen to RM4.80, while IOI Corp, YTL Corp and S P Setia fell 12 sen each to RM5.59, RM7.19 and RM6.25 respectively.

Gainers in early trade included JT International that rose 40 sen to RM7, Nestle 38 sen to RM45.40, HELP 20 sen to RM2.73, while Plenitude and AZRB added six sen each to RM2.14 and 91 sen.

The actives included Borneo Oil, Petronas Chemicals, Sumatec, Ramunia, Perisai and Scomi.

China inflation holds steady as tightening bites

BEIJING: Chinese inflation levelled off in February while industrial output accelerated, tentative signs that the government is succeeding in taming price pressures without unduly harming growth in the world's second-largest economy, according to Reuters.

Beijing is not about to declare victory in its battle against inflation, which economists say will pick up a touch in coming months, but data published on Friday lends credence to the view that it is more than midway through a sustained campaign of monetary tightening launched nearly half a year ago.

China's consumer price inflation steadied at 4.9% in the year to February, the same as in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Although above forecasts for 4.7%, the reading contrasted with dire warnings a few months ago of runaway prices. Core inflation, stripped of volatile food costs, slowed.

"We are still facing high inflationary pressures in coming months," said Wang Hu, economist with Guotai Junan Securities in Beijing.

"The economy is performing quite well, which can be seen from the fixed asset investment and industrial output figures," he added. "I think China's economy may start to slow down in the second quarter, and the consumer price index will also start to trend down in June."

Industrial output in the first two months of 2011 rose 14.1% year-on-year from a 13.5% pace in December, vaulting past market expectations of a 13.3% increase.

Reflecting the surge in global commodity costs earlier this year, producer price inflation jumped in February to 7.2% from 6.6% a month earlier.

INFLATION A PRIORITY

China's top leaders have declared that their priority this year is to control inflation. So far, complaints about rising prices have amounted to little more than grumbles, but serious inflation has sparked social unrest in China in the past.

To meet the official goal of keeping inflation to a 4% average this year, the government has raised interest rates three times and banks' reserve requirements five times since October, while also using a series of direct controls to cap price rises.

The most important part of Beijing's efforts has been reining in banks, which unleashed a torrent of credit over the past two years, swamping the economy in cash.

Reports in official media have said that new loans in February were slightly more than 500 billion yuan (US$76 billion), a steep drop from January and considerably less than expected. If confirmed, that would suggest that China has finally gained traction in controlling the excesses of banks.

In a statement on Friday, the Chinese central bank said it would ensure that there is an "appropriate" amount of liquidity in the economy this year, guiding credit growth at a reasonable pace.

For all these signs of progress in taming inflation, it is notoriously difficult to interpret Chinese economic data at the start of the year. Many businesses shut their doors or run at half speed for weeks because of the Lunar New Year, which fell in early February this year.

A reminder of the distortions this causes came on Thursday, when data showed that China had recorded its largest trade deficit in seven years in February. That helped fuel a sell-off in global markets, but economists said the country was likely to return to a chunky surplus over the rest of the year. - Reuters

AZRB up on RM145.38m highway job

KUALA LUMPUR: AHMAD ZAKI RESOURCES BHD []'s shares advanced in early trade on Friday, March 11 after its unit Ahmad Zaki Sdn Bhd'' secured a contract worth RM145.38 million to complete the remaining works of the Phase 2 of the East Coast highway project in Terengganu.

At 9.30am, AZRB was up 4.5 sen to 89.5 sen with 2.62 million shares done.

The contract was awarded by the Public Works Department and the project is to be completed on Aug 26, 2012.

AZRB said the contract was expected to contribute positively to its earnings for the financial years ending 2011 to 2012.

#Flash* KLCI slides 12 points in early trade, plantations weigh

KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips fell in early trade on Friday, March 11 as investors worried about the fallout from the Libyan revolt and record high oil prices.

Investors fear unrest could spread from Libya to other oil-producing nations in the Middle East, driving energy costs higher and choking off the global economic recovery, Reuters reported.

At 9.23am, the FBM KLCI was down 12.14 points to 1,504.77. Turnover was 107.29 million shares valued at RM85 million. Losers hammered gainers 284 to 33.

PLANTATION []s were among the major losers on profit taking. RHB Research said'' although current CPO price of RM3,500 a tonne was still above its RM3,100'' price assumption for CY2011, 'we believe valuations of plantation stocks may revert to market averages of 14-16x CY11 (from 15-17x currently)'.

KL Kepong fell the most, down 30 sen to RM20.58, Batu Kawan 16 sen to RM15.22, IOI Corp 14 sen to RM5.57.

Among infrastructure and building materials-related companies, YTL Cement fell 13 sen to RM4.80, TSR Capital and IJM 11 sen each to RM1 and RM6.02.

HL Bank fell 12 sen to RM9.20 in thin trade. The bank had received approval for its proposed issue of up to US$300 million senior unsecured bonds from the Securities Commission.

The proceeds from the issuance of the senior bonds will be used for working capital and general banking purposes.

#Flash* LRT extension projects to pick up pace end-March

KUALA LUMPUR: Work on the extension of the Kelana Jaya LRT line and the Ampang LRT line are expected to pick up pace ''by end-March.

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd said on Friday, March 11 that it would start with structural works, subject to approval from the state government and local authorities.

About 15% of the advance works for the Kelana Jaya line extension and 20% of the works for the Ampang Line are completed.

HDBSVR sees KLCI sliding towards 1,495

KUALA LUMPUR: Hwang DBS Vickers Research said the bears came back to sell down U.S. equities on Thursday night, March 10.

It said on Friday, March 11 leading bellwethers on Wall Street slumped between 1.8% and 1.9% at the closing bell as investors reacted negatively to the increase in jobless claims, wider U.S. trade deficit and slowing China exports.

'This will inevitably force Asian stock markets to gap down when trading resumes this morning. Back home, the benchmark FBM KLCI could tumble towards the immediate support level of 1,495 ahead,' it said.

HDBSVR said possibly bucking the falling market trend is Ahmad Zaki Resources after the CONSTRUCTION [] outfit said it has accepted a construction contract to build Phase 2 of the East Coast Highway worth RM145m.

OSK Research maintains Buy on AZRB, TP RM1.29

KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Research is maintaining a Buy on AHMAD ZAKI RESOURCES BHD [] (AZRB) with a target price of RM1.29 but cautioned that risks remained.

AZRB announced on Thursday, March 10 it had won a RM145.4m contract from the Works Ministry. The job encompasses the remaining works for the East Coast Expressway Phase 2 in Terengganu.

OSK Research said on Friday, March 11 that as YTD job wins are still within its expectations, it left its estimates unchanged.

'Nonetheless we do highlight that a potential provision for Bakun would be the key risk to our estimates. Management continues to guide that no provisions for Bakun will be made.

'Despite this risk, our BUY rating on AZRB is maintained given AZRB's undemanding valuations at 6.6x FY11 earnings and 5.8x FY12. Our RM1.29 TP is based on 10x FY11 earnings which represents the low end of our PER target for small cap contractors within our coverage,' it said.

OSK Research maintains Buy on Alam Maritim, unchanged TP RM1.50

KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Research is maintaining its Buy call on Alam Maritim with an unchanged target price of RM1.50.

Alam Maritim recently accepted an extension of a spot charter contract to supply of one straight supply vessel worth a contract value of RM11.0m.

OSK Research said the company's announcement of the one-year contract however did not identify the customer, but it believed it is likely be Petronas or its PSC contractors since this is a renewal of contract and the bulk of Alam's existing vessel contracts are from the domestic market

'After the company undertook a kitchen sinking exercise in FY10, we believe the worst is now over. However, as we mentioned earlier, we do not expect Alam's 1H11 results to be very good as it was still affected by the monsoon season in 1Q.

'Also, Petronas' focus is now on the initial stage of marginal oilfield developments and not towards the tail-end of activities, which would more of a 2H11 focus. We maintain a Buy on the company for now, with an unchanged target price of RM1.50 based on the existing PER of 15x FY11 EPS,' it said.

OSK Research: Hike in SRR by 1pct won't hurt loans growth

KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Research said market speculation has it that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) may increase banks' statutory reserve requirement (SRR) from 1% to 2% at Friday, March 11 monetary policy meeting but it did not expect an impact from a hike in the SRR due to the firm loans growth.

The research house said on Friday although this is intended to soak up excess liquidity from the system, raising the SRR from a record low is unlikely to have any visible impact on credit growth, just as the increase in interest rates from record lows in early 2010 did not have the effect of squeezing loans growth.

OSK Research said in fact, the industry loans growth of 13% implies a significant upside bias to our and the market's 2011 loans growth forecast of 9% to 10%.

'We believe that as long as economic conditions are conducive and the system's loans to deposit ratio (LDR) remains below 90%, loans growth should remain stable at 1.5x to 1.6x GDP growth, or 9% to 11%, irrespective of any potential SRR increase.

'We think that net interest margins pose a more critical challenge than loans growth. Maintain OVERWEIGHT on the sector,' it said.

RHB Research downgrades construction to Neutral from Overweight

KULALA LUMPUR: RHB Research Institute is downgrading its recommendation for the CONSTRUCTION [] sector to Neutral from Outperform, prompted by the downgrade in its recommendation for Gamuda to Market Perform from Trading Buy.

The research house said on Friday, March 11 that it also believed that construction stocks are already showing the symptoms of 'news flow fatigue' and the next round of re-rating will not take place until the market is more sure about the exact timing of the 'first oil' from the key public infrastructure jobs, particularly, the MRT project.

'Not helping either, is the increased earnings risk in terms of higher input costs and hence lower margins against a backdrop of the surging crude oil prices on the back of the unrest in North Africa and Middle East,' it said.

AZRB gets RM145.38m East Coast highway job

KUALA LUMPUR: AHMAD ZAKI RESOURCES BHD []'s unit has secured a contract worth RM145.38 million to complete the remaining works of the Phase 2 of the East Coast highway project in Terengganu.

It said on Thursday, March 10 that the unit Ahmad Zaki Sdn Bhd had accepted the award from the Public Works Department on March 9.

AZRB said the works are to be completed on Aug 26, 2012. It said the contract was expected to contribute positively to its earnings for the financial years ending 2011 to 2012.

Hong Leong Bank gets SC nod to issue up to USD300m bonds

KUALA LUMPUR: HONG LEONG BANK BHD [] has received approval for its proposed issue of up to US$300 million senior unsecured bonds from the Securities Commission.

'The proceeds from the issuance of the senior bonds will be used for working capital and general banking purposes,' it said on Thursday, March 10.

Barclays Bank PLC, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and Standard Chartered Bank are joint lead managers and bookrunners for the senior bonds.

CIMB Investment Bank Bhd and Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd have been appointed co-managers.

Asian markets skid on flurry of negative news

KUALA LUMPUR:'' Asian markets skidded on Thursday, March 10 as a spate of negative news spooked investors already worried of high crude oil prices as a result of escalating tensions in the Mid-east that could stem global economic growth.

A contraction in Japan's 4Q GDP growth, China posting its largest traded deficit in seven years in February as well as Moody's downgrade of Spain's rating further dampened already jittery investor confidence.

The FBM KLCI fell 6.78 points to 1,516.91, weighed by losses including at MISC, DiGi and Petronas Gas.'' Losers beat gainers 483 to 253, while 280 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.09 billion shares valued at RM1.56 billion.

At the regional markets, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.5% to 2,957.14, Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.46% to 10,434.38, Taiwan's Taiex fell 1.22% to 8,642.90, South Korea's Kospi Index was down 0.99% to 1,981.58, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.82% to 23,614.89 and Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.56% to 3,075.44.

Regionally, China swung to a trade deficit in February of US$7.3 billion, its largest in seven years, as the Lunar New Year holiday dealt an unexpectedly sharp blow to exports.

European shares declined on Thursday as Moody's downgrade of Spain's rating raised concerns about the health of peripheral euro zone economies, while higher oil prices on

Libya unrest stoked worries about global growth, said Reuters.

At Bursa, among the major losers, BAT fell RM1.40 to RM46.24, Nestle 48 sen to RM45.02, DiGi 44 sen to RM27.36, Panasonic 26 sen to RM19.70, MISC 21 sen to RM7.70, PPB 20 sen to RM17, BLD PLANTATION []s 18 sen to RM5.20 and Petronas Gas 14 sen to RM11.58.

Far East Corp was the top gainer and rose 20 sen to RM7.50; HELP was up 17 sen to RM2.53, Pos Malaysia 15 sen to RM3.20, Media Prima 13 sen to RM2.38, Top Glove 11 sen to RM5, Ewein and Batu Kawan 10 sen each to RM1 and RM15.38, while Bintulu Port added nine sen to RM6.59.

SAAG was the most actively traded counter with 67.76 million shares done. The stock shed half a sen to 9.5 sen. Other actives included Borneo Oil, Perisai, Sumatec, Axiata and HWGB.

Gefung makes foray into Indonesia property sector

KUALA LUMPUR: GEFUNG HOLDINGS BHD [] is making its foray into Indonesia and is planning to undertake a mixed development property project in east of Jakarta.

Gefung said on Thursday, March 10 it had signed an MoU with PT Greenworld Development to undertake the project totaling 50.74 acres east of Jakarta.

It said the proposed involvement in property development was in line with the group's strategy to diversify its revenue stream.

It said the site was along Jalan Pengangsaan Dua, Rawa Terate Village and surrounded by established neighbourhoods in the Kelapa Gading sub-district which is mainly a middle to upper middle class area.

It added Kelapa Gading had six shopping malls within a 20-km radius and it was 14km from central Jakarta.

Selangor Dredging associate buying London property for RM48.34m

KUALA LUMPUR: SELANGOR DREDGING BHD []'s (SDB) associate is buying a four-storey building along Kensington High Street, Lodon for ''9.82 million (RM48.34 million).

SDB said on Thursday, March 10 that SDB Guernsey Ltd had entered into a contract with Pat Hurley, Adrian Copeland, Michael Farrell and Richard Lehane as trustees for The Kensington High Street Syndicate to acquire the property.

It said the property was currently rented to HSBC Bank Plc on a 15 year lease expiring on Feb 20, 2020. The current rent is ''410,000 per annum.

KL Kepong calls off plan to issue up to USD300m nominal value 5-yr bonds

KUALA LUMPUR: KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD [] is not going ahead with its proposal to issue up to US$300 million unsecured guaranteed exchangeable bonds with an over-allotment option to increase'' it by US$100 million.

KLK said on Thursday, March 10 that based on the current financial condition of the company, the proposed exchangeable bonds issue was no longer required.

On April 28, 2010 it had received the Securities Commission's approval to extend the implementation of the corporate exercise to April 2, 2011.

MISC falls to low of RM7.65, cautious outlook for sector

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of MISC BHD [] fell to a low of RM7.65 in afternoon trade on Thursday, March 10, in line with the weak local and regional markets and further aggravated by the cautious outlook for the tanker sector.

At 4.09pm, it was down 16 sen to RM7.75. There were 469,400 shares done at prices ranging from RM7.65 and RM7.91.

Moody's Investors Service said the Middle East turmoil, rising bunker prices were adding to shippers' woes.

It said the the fundamental structural imbalance was still the key negative driver for the shipping industry. Besides the oversupply forecasted in the dry-bulk shipping industry, a similar demand and supply structural imbalance exist for liners and the tanker business over the next 12-18 months.

'Such pressures were evident in the weak performance of MISC's chemical, petroleum, and liner segments in its recently released fiscal third-quarter 2011 results,' it said in a report issued on March 7.

Moody's said shipping companies such as MISC (A3 stable) had adopted slow-steaming to reduce fuel usage, optimise voyage planning and routing, and deploy measures to monitor vessels' performance and fuel consumption.

Slow steaming refers to slowing down vessels to save fuel, while maintaining shipping schedules by adding vessels to routes.

However, such savings are limited, as the extension of transit time is restricted by the time sensitivity of shipments. Furthermore, the risk of engine damage increases at extremely low steaming levels if a ship is not designed for slow steaming.

Moody's downgrades Spain's govt bond ratings by one notch to Aa2, outlook negative

LONDON: Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Spain's government bond ratings by one notch to Aa2 from Aa1 as it expects the eventual cost of bank restructuring will exceed the government's current assumptions, leading to a further increase in the public debt ratio.

It said on Thursday, March 10 it was also concerned over the government's ability to achieve the required sustainable and structural improvement in general government finances.

The international ratings agency said the central government had limited control over the regional governments' finances as well as the background of only moderate economic growth in the short to medium term.

Moody's also said it had assigned a negative outlook to the rating as the risks to Spain's government finances remain skewed to the downside.

'Spain's vulnerability to market disruption remains elevated given the high funding requirements, not only for the sovereign but also for the regional governments and the banks,' it said.

It said Spain's country ceilings for bonds and bank deposits were unaffected by Thursday's rating action and remained at Aaa (in line with the Eurozone's rating). Spain's P-1 short-term rating was unaffected by the rating action.

BLD Plantations fall in late trade

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of BLD PLANTATION []s Bhd fell in late afternoon trade on Thursday, March 10 in line with weaker broader market.

At 3.51pm, it was down 25 sen to RM5.13 with 4,000 shares done.

Stock market data showed that about 200,000 shares were transacted in an off-market deal at RM4.63 a piece or 50 sen below the market price.

The FBM KLCI fell 7.28 points to 1,516.41. Turnover was 837.26 million shares done valued at Rm1.036 billion. Declining stocks beat advancers 510 to 198 while 252 stocks were unchanged.

In the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2011, BLD Plantations reported net profit of RM22.84 million compared with RM5.27 million a year ago.

For FY10, its earnings doubled to RM60.52 million from RM30.10 million in FY09.

CIMB Research maintains OW on oil and gas sector

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Equities Research is maintaining its Overweight recommendation on the oil and gas (O&G) sector as the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) newsflow is a potential re-rating catalyst for the sector, along with more contract awards.

It said on Thursday, March 10 the market was excited over the new RM1 billion O&G hub in Labuan and speculation about potential spillovers for selected listed companies including contractors like Muhibbah Engineering and O&G contractors.

However, CIMB Research said it had confirmed with Dialog and Kencana that they are not bidding for the CONSTRUCTION [] portion of the project. The project is not a Petronas initiative and involves a little-known, privately-held company RG Gas and Chemicals.

Furthermore, Dialog and Kencana were focusing on their high-priority jobs in Pengerang and Berantai, respectively, which will commence this year.

'While the new Labuan project may not benefit the listed O&G companies, we welcome the continuous positive newsflow on the sector, which we continue to rate an OVERWEIGHT. SapuraCrest stays as our top pick,' it said.

According to the news, RG Gas and Chemicals is set to invest RM1 billionn over three years to build an integrated O&G hub in Pulau Daat, Labuan which will provide land-based logistics and support services such as fabrication yards and tank farms.

'This is a positive development for the sector in terms of newsflow. Other projects under the ETP that have been awarded include the RM5bn Pengerang tank terminal project for which Dialog is the contractor and developer, and the US$800m Berantai marginal field development involving UK-based Petrofac (50%), SapuraCrest (25%) and Kencana (25%),' it said.

Alam Maritim unit gets contract extension worth RM10.95m

KUALA LUMPUR: ALAM MARITIM RESOURCES BHD []'s wholly owned subsidiary Alam Maritim (M) Sdn Bhd has secured an extension of a spot charter contract to supply of one unit Straight Supply vessel for RM10.95 million.

In a filing to Bursa Securities on Thursday, March 10, Alam Maritim said the contract was for an extended period of one year.

It said the contract was expected to contribute positively to its earnings for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2011 and beyond.

Asian markets slide, Mid-east woes persist

KUALA LUMPUR: Asian markets, including Bursa Malaysia, fell on Thursday, March 10 as a mix of negative news weighed on stocks, including surging crude oil prices, contraction in Japan's 4Q2010 GDP and China posting its largest traded deficit in seven years in February.

Brent crude rose 0.3% to surpass US$116 on Thursday after forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi bombed oil industry infrastructure, inflicting what could be longer-term damage on the country's exporting capacity, according to Reuters.

The FBM KLCI fell 0.37% or 5.70 points to 1,517.99, dragged by losses including at banking and key blue chip stocks. Losers beat gainers by 430 to 190, while 249 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 554.98 million shares valued at RM616.17 million.

The ringgit weakened 0.18% to 3.0380 versus the US dollar; crude palm oil futures for the third month delivery fell RM88 per tonne to RM3,470, crude oil added 38 cents per barrel to US$104.76 while gold fell US$1.84 per troy ounce to US$1,429.13.

''

Japan's Nikkei 225 1.35% 10,446.13 Shanghai Composite Index -1% 2,972.10 Hang Seng Index -0.63% 23,660.79 Taiwan's Taiex -1.12% 8,652.02 South Korea's Kospi -1.26% 1.976.21 Singapore's Straits Times Index 0.54% 3,076.25 ''

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On Bursa Malaysia, among the banks, Maybank fell five sen to RM8.76, Public Bank four sen to RM13.12 and CIMB three sen to RM8.12.

Of the 30-stock FBM KLCI constituents, BAT lost 80 sen to RM46.84, PPB fell 24 sen to RM16.96, MISC 21 sen to RM7.70,'' Tenaga six sen to RM6.24 and Axiata four sen to RM4.88.

Other decliners were Glenealy, down 12 sen to RM4.65, JobStreet and SapuraCrest 10 sen each to RM2.82 and RM2.57, while Toyo Ink lost nine sen to RM1.69.

MAS and AirAsia fell two sen each to RM1.83 and AirAsia RM2.49 as high oil prices would have a sever impact on their earnings.

Among the gainers, Pos Malaysia rose 30 sen on reports that Khazanah Nasional Bhd would announce the divestment of its 32% stake to a third party by April 12.

Petronas Dagangan that added 26 sen to RM14.40, Far East 20 sen to RM7.50, Top Glove and Media Prima 12 sen each to RM5.01 and RM2.37, Paramount 11 sen to RM5.30.

SAAG was the most active with 40.99 million shares done. The stock was unchanged at 10 sen. Other actives included Petronas Dagangan warrant, Borneo Oil and Perisai.

Media Chinese International rose nine sen to RM1.05 with 10 million shares done while Star was unchanged at RM3.58.

The Edge FinancialDaily reported on Thursday that MCIL, which has the most Chinese titles in the world, seems to be catching up with STAR PUBLICATIONS (M) BHD [].

The Edge FD reported that MCIL's earnings are not far from the top spot which has been dominated by Star, which is the most profitable media group for years.

#Update* January industrial output up 1pct on-yr, up 0.4pct on-month

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's industrial production index (IPI) increased 1% in January 2011 from a year ago. It increased 0.4% from December 2010.

The Statistics Department said on Thursday, March 10, the December IPI was revised 4.5% on-year.

'The increase in January 2011 was due to the increases in two indices: manufacturing (4.5%) and electricity (0.3%). However, the index of mining posted a decrease of 6.7%,' it said.

It said manufacturing output increased in January due to increases in the petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic Products (10.7%); non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (16.0%); textiles, wearing apparel, leather products and footwear (31.5%).

The department said the mining sector decreased 6.7% in January 2011 on-year. This was due to the decreases in crude oil index (8.2%)''and natural gas index (3.5%). As compared with the preceding month, the mining output increased to 1.6%.

Rehda: Property prices to increase up to 20pct in next 6 months

KUALA LUMUR: The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (REHDA) expects property prices to increase up to 20% in the next six months.

Its president Datuk Seri Michael Yam said on Thursday, March 10 the general increase in prices would be due to higher building material and land costs.'' Material costs increase by 5% to 10% annually.

Brent rises towards $117 as Gaddafi bombs Libyan oil storage tanks

SINGAPORE: Brent crude rose 0.5 percent towards $117 on Thursday, March 10 after forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi bombed oil industry infrastructure, inflicting what could be longer-term damage on the country's exporting capacity.

Gaddafi's forces struck an oil pipeline leading to Es Sider and dropped bombs on storage tanks in the Ras Lanuf oil terminal area in the eastern section of Libya that is rebel-controlled. Rebels said government forces also hit an oil pipeline leading to Sidrah.

"The large explosions and enormous columns of smoke from storage tanks and other facilities in Ras Lanuf, close to the Es Sider terminal, are perhaps more than merely symbolic," Barclays Capital oil analysts headed by Paul Horsnell said.

"They represent a final fading of any residual realistic hope that the outage of Libyan oil could prove to be anything other than prolonged."

Brent crude for April gained 60 cents to $116.54 a barrel at 0224 GMT after soaring almost $3, or 2.5 percent, on Wednesday, from as low as $112.16. They reached a 2-1/2-year high of $119.79 on Feb. 24.

U.S. crude gained 44 cents to $104.82, after touching a 2-1/2-year peak of almost $107 earlier this week.

On Wednesday, U.S. crude fell after stockpiles at the pricing point for benchmark West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Oklahoma, surged 1.7 million barrels to a record of almost 40.3 million barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

That caused the discount of WTI to European marker Brent to widen to almost $12 a barrel from about $8 the previous day.

Total U.S. crude inventories rose 2.5 million barrels last week, the EIA said, dwarfing the forecast for an increase of just 400,000 barrels in a Reuters poll. The weekly inventory data also showed drawdowns for gasoline and distillates were bigger than expected, reflecting improving demand.

Confirming previous non-Libyan estimates, Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya's National Oil Corp, said that production has been cut to about half a million barrels per day from 1.6 million bpd by the war, as many foreign and local workers have left oil fields.

Libyan oil trade has been paralyzed as banks decline to clear payments in dollars due to U.S. sanctions, though Austrian energy group OMV said it had been buying small amounts of Libyan crude oil and would continue to do so.

"It appears that most of Libya's bridges with OECD countries in particular are already aflame or may have already been burned," Barclays Capital said.

"One can now easily imagine circumstances in which Libya's previously very short-haul exports of crude oil become very long-haul indeed."

A Libyan insurgent said rebels had retaken the heart of the closest city to the capital from forces loyal to Gaddafi on Wednesday evening in some of the fiercest fighting in almost three weeks of clashes.

Saudi Arabia has increased production to 9 million bpd, almost 1 million bpd above its current OPEC target. The kingdom says it currently holds spare capacity of 3.5 mln bpd.

Still, an OPEC delegate said on Wednesday that the group saw no need for an emergency meeting to discuss raising output.

Saudi Shi'ites staged another small protest in the kingdom's Eastern province, defying a ban on demonstrations, but Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said dialogue, not protest, was the best way to bring about change.

Saudi Arabia's ruling family has mobilised the power of its conservative religious establishment to prevent a wave of uprisings against Arab autocrats from roaring into its kingdom, home to more than a fifth of the world's known oil reserves. - Reuters

Moody's assigns A3 to Hong Leong Bank's proposed notes

KUALA LUMPUR: Moody's Investors Service has assigned an A3 foreign currency rating to HONG LEONG BANK BHD []'s proposed issue of senior debt notes. The rating outlook is stable.

The ratings agency said on Thursday, March 10 the exact amount of the issuance has yet to be decided.

The notes will represent an unsecured, unsubordinated obligation of Hong Leong Bank. The issuance will be subject to a negative pledge.

Hong Leong Bank's A3 foreign currency senior unsecured rating is driven by its C-bank financial strength rating (BFSR), which maps to a baseline credit assessment (BCA) of Baa1, as well as the imputed systemic support.

The bank's ratings are underpinned by its: (1) established consumer and middle-market banking franchise (which comprises a well-to-do Chinese community), (2) conservative management, (3) very high levels of capital and liquidity, and (4) efficient operations.

In addition, Moody's notes that the bank's asset quality, while improving, is still moderate when compared with global banks of similar ratings.

The rating also incorporates the inherent market risks.

As the sixth-largest Malaysian bank in terms of assets, Moody's believed that Hong Leong Bank enjoyed a very high probability of systemic support, leading to two notches of uplift for its A2 long-term global local currency (GLC) deposit rating from its Baa1 BCA.

The bank's long-term senior unsecured foreign currency debt rating is similar to Malaysia's A3 foreign currency bond ceiling.

FBM KLCI dips in early trade

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI declined in early trade on Thursday, March 10 in line with the dip at key Asian markets following the weaker overnight close at Wall Street as surging oil prices remained a concern.

Asian shares edged lower on Thursday, weighed down by worries that a surge in oil prices could exacerbate inflation pressures in the region and cripple economic growth, according to Reuters.

US oil futures rose 0.3%, following a 2.5% jump in Brent oil late on Wednesday to US$115.94 a barrel.

Oil advanced as fighting in Libya worsened and OPEC saw no need for an emergency meeting to consider raising output. Fears that Libya's uprising could spread further in the Middle East also dented market sentiment, said Reuters.

The FBM KLCI fell 3.54 points to 1,520.15 at mid-morning. Losers led gainers by 259 to 119, while 196 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 255.24 million shares valued at RM198.56 million.

BIMB Securities Research in a note March 10 said the hanging concern over the civil unrest in Libya continued to shake sentiment as the precious commodity ended at USD104 per barrel yesterday.

Crude oil price remains at alarming rate that could derail the global economic recovery despite OPEC members' unofficial pledge to increase production in order to tame the oil price, it said.

The research house said that there was fear that the civil unrest in Middle East and North Africa which already toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt could spread to one of the world's largest oil producer, Saudi Arabia.

'As the world's second largest oil producer behind Russia with 264bn barrels of proven oil reserves, this chilling fact could hammer the global equity sentiment should the civil unrest erupt in the country.

'Given lack of closure of civil unrest in Middle East and added with lack of fresh catalyst, we expect the local equity market to trade in tight range today with mild upside bias,' it said.

On Bursa Malaysia, PPB was the top loser at mid-morning and fell 24 sen to RM16.96; KLK lost 16 sen to RM20.70, Glenealy 12 sen to RM4.65, Bursa nine sen to RM8.04, Apex, HLFG and Mudajaya eight sen each to 70 sen, RM8.78 and RM4.77 respectively, while Toyo Ink and SapuraCrest fell seven sen each to RM1.71 and RM3.60.

Gainers in early trade included Pos Malaysia, Petronas Dagangan, MTD Capital, Far East Corp, Top Glove, Media Chinese International (MCIL) and Ewein.

The actives included SAAG, Borneo Oil, Perisai and MCIL.

Ta Ann slips as profit taking picks up pace

KUALA LUMPUR: Ta Ann Holding Bhd's share price fell in late morning on Thursday, March 10 as profit taking on the timber stock picked pace after the recent 52-week high of RM5.39.

At 10.50am, it was down eight sen to RM4.72 with 10,800 shares done.

The FBM KLCI fell 7.05 points to 1,516.64. Turnover was 376.69 million shares done valued at RM335.55 million. There were 144 gainers, 368 losers and 222 stocks unchanged.

CIMB Equities Research said it had a Sell at RM4.80.

It said the recent breakout looked more like a fake-out. After hitting a new 52-week high of RM5.39, prices have been on a descending trend, suggesting that the bears are gaining pace fast.

'If the 200-day SMA support (now at RM4.65) is breached, we expect renewed selling pressure to set in, pushing prices lower towards RM4.35 and RM4 next.

'Near term gains are likely capped at RM4.84-RM5.02. Hence, our strategy here is to unload on strength. But a buy stop at RM5.15, just in case,' it said.

MCIL up 4.8pct on positive earnings outlook

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of MEDIA CHINESE INTERNATIONAL LT []d (MCIL) climbed 4.8% in morning trade on Thursday, March 10 on the positive earnings outlook for the company.

At 11.07am, MCIL was up 11 sen to RM2.36 with 1.67 million shares done.

However, the FBM KLCI was down 6.25 points to 1,517.44. Turnover was 398.53 million shares valued at RM378.46 million. Decliners beat advancers 383 to 152 while 230 stocks were unchanged.

The Edge FinancialDaily reported on Thursday that MCIL, which has the most Chinese titles in the world, seems to be catching up with STAR PUBLICATIONS (M) BHD [].

The Edge FD reported that MCIL's earnings are not far from the top spot which has been dominated by Star, which is the most profitable media group for years. 'Judging from the latest earnings, MCIL's profit may overtake Star's by FY11 ending March 31,' it said.

Pos Malaysia jumps on divestment deadline news

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of POS MALAYSIA BHD [] jumped in early trade on Thursday, March 10 on reports that Khazanah Nasional Bhd would announce the divestment of its 32% stake to a third party by April 12.

At 9.25am, Pos Malaysia was up 38 sen to RM3.43 with 2.39 million shares done.

The FBM KLCI slipped 0.6 of a point to 1,523.09. Turnover was 130.28 million shares values at RM80.21 million. There were 106 gainers, 123 losers and 139 stocks unchanged.

OSK Research upgrades JTI to Buy from Neutral, sees special dividend payment

KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Research said Japan Tobacco International's (JTI) cash pile has been growing since its last capital repayment in 1Q2009.

It said on Thursday, March 10 that JTI, with a cash hoard of RM189m and still growing, it believed the company was likely to pay a special dividend in due course.

'Apart from its recurring annual dividend payout of 30 sen per share, we roughly estimate a possible special dividend amounting to 80 sen per share.

'We are raising our target price for the stock to RM7.30 from RM6.20 previously upon lowering our WACC assumption to 8.32% from 9.4% previously. The stock is upgraded to a BUY from NEUTRAL,' it said.

OSK Research ups Cypark Resources target price to RM2.98

KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Research said Cypark Resources, the premier landfill rehabilitator in Malaysia, has announced its foray into the Renewable Energy (RE) space by setting up a 10MW RE Park on a previous landfill site in Pajam, Negeri Sembilan.

The research house said on Thursday, March 10 that it finds Cypark's current business of landfill management already fairly valued at a generous PER of 15x after the 77% share price rally since it picked Cypark as a 'Hidden Jewel' in its January outlook report.

'Nonetheless, the RE business provides great opportunity IF and WHEN the Renewable Energy Act is passed to allow for higher RE electricity tariffs.

'The RE Act could mean that the Pajam RE Park alone will contribute some 22% in additional value for Cypark and lift its indicative target price to RM2.98. With the potential for more RE parks, Cypark makes for an interesting Trading Idea pending the passing of the RE Act,' it said.

HDBSVR: KLCI to tread in narrow range

KUALA LUMPUR: Hwang DBS Vickers Research said the benchmark FBM KLCI is expected to tread inside a narrow trading range on Thursday, March 10 due to an absence of fresh market leads.

It said that Wall Street showed a lacklustre performance last night with its leading equity indices ending between flat and minus 0.5% at the closing bell.

Back home, data on tap on Thursday include: (a) the index of industrial production (IPI) report for Jan, with one media poll saying the consensus has projected a moderate annual increase of 1.4% in the IPI for the month; and (b) PLANTATION []s statistics (on production, exports, inventory etc) for February.

'In terms of share price actions, Pos Malaysia could see added trading interest today following a news article that said the divestment of Khazanah Nasional's 32% stake in the company to a third party would be announced by April 12,' it said.

CIMB Research has Sell on Ta Ann, near term gains capped

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Equities Research has a Sell on timber stock Ta Ann Holding Bhd at RM4.80.

It said on Thursday, March 10 the recent breakout looks more like a fake-out. After hitting a new 52-week high of RM5.39, prices have been on a descending trend, suggesting that the bears are gaining pace fast.

'If the 200-day SMA support (now at RM4.65) is breached, we expect renewed selling pressure to set in, pushing prices lower towards RM4.35 and RM4 next.

'Near term gains are likely capped at RM4.84-RM5.02. Hence, our strategy here is to unload on strength. But a buy stop at RM5.15, just in case,' it said.

CIMB Research: Accumulate YTL Land on weakness

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Equities Research has a Buy on YTL Land & Development at RM1.75.

'Recent pullback dragged prices towards the 38.2% FR level. Since then, prices have been holding steadily above this level. We think a stronger rebound is imminent and prices could swing past its 30-day SMA soon,' it said.

The research house said on Thursday, March 10 the technical landscape is improving. MACD histogram bars are falling at a slower pace while its RSI has also hooked upward.'' Once the 30-day SMA is taken out, the following resistance is at RM1.95 and RM2.08.

'Our strategy here is to accumulate on weakness. However, be quick to cut loss if the 38.2% FR level of RM1.63 is violated as next downside targets are RM1.49 and RM1.35,' it said.

US STOCKS-Chip sector losses hit Nasdaq; IBM supports Dow

NEW YORK: A weak outlook from Texas Instruments weighed on the Nasdaq on Wednesday, March 9 and pushed an index of chip makers below a key technical level in a worrisome sign for the market's six-month uptrend.

The PHLX semiconductor index fell 3 percent to close below its 50-day moving average, which represents medium-term momentum, for the first time since September.

Texas Instruments led the losers, after its earnings target disappointed Wall Street. Its shares fell 3.1 percent to $34.74.

"I think the markets are ready for a sell-off that continues to be started by the Nasdaq futures markets," said Harry Michas, technical analyst and stock-index futures trader at Iharmarketmonitor.com.

"If the Nasdaq futures fall back below the 2,313.00 level again, it should attract more profit taking as well as some new shorts."

The futures were trading around 2,320.

International Business Machines Corp helped the Dow tread water, as the stock, the largest component in the price-weighted index, rose 2.2 percent to $165.86.

Even though semis' gains have outpaced the broader market in the last several months, the S&P 500 and the semiconductor index have been moving in the same direction, which could mean further declines in the sector and spell more of the same for the overall market.

A 20-day correlation between the S&P 500 and the semiconductor index was at 0.77, with a reading of 1 suggesting a perfect correlation.

The semiconductor index is up 41 percent since the start of September, when the recent rally began, while the S&P 500 is up 26 percent.

High oil prices dragged on the broader market on the two-year anniversary of stocks' bull run from the S&P 500's 12-1/2-year closing low of 676.53, which was sparked by the financial crisis.

"The market is at a real inflection point here," said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial in New York. "I'm not banging the table for the upside, but I would say there is more evidence for an upside breakout."

The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 1.29 points, or 0.01 percent, to finish at 12,213.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 1.80 points, or 0.14 percent, to end at 1,320.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 14.05 points, or 0.51 percent, to close at 2,751.72.

Tech shares also felt the weight of Finisar Corp. The stock plummeted 38.5 percent to $24.61 after the network equipment maker forecast a dismal fourth quarter, blaming an inventory pile-up by telecommunications equipment makers in China.

Finisar is up 100 percent since the start of September, when the recent stock market rally began.

Shares of sector peer JDS Uniphase fell 16.7 percent to $21.14.

A bright spot was provided by IBM , which helped limit the Dow's loss.

IBM hit an intraday high of $167.72, its highest ever when adjusted for stock splits, after a host of analysts raised their target price on the stock. A day earlier, the tech giant reaffirmed its 2015 earnings target.

In the oil market, Brent crude gained $2.88 to settle at $115.94 a barrel as turmoil in Libya continued. The higher prices reinforced worries that high energy costs could dampen economic growth.

Copper weighed on miners' shares for a second day, falling 3 percent on investor concerns that elevated crude oil prices could lead to inflation and crimp global growth.

Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold Inc fell 3.3 percent to $48.45 and has lost more than 7 percent on increasing trading volumes in the last four days.

Volume was about 7.04 billion shares on the Nasdaq, NYSE and AMEX, below the daily average of 8.47 billion for last year.

Advancing and declining stocks were about evenly split on the NYSE, but on the Nasdaq about three stocks fell for every two that rose. - Reuters

GLOBAL MARKETS-Brent oil jumps on Libya, denting world stocks

NEW YORK:'' Brent oil prices jumped on Wednesday, March 9, weighing on global stocks, as escalating violence in Libya increased fears that higher energy costs could choke the global economic recovery.

U.S. Treasuries prices rose on a safety bid following the sale of Portuguese debt at unsustainably high yields. Appetite for safe-haven assets also drove strong demand in an auction of 10-year Treasuries.

Mining stocks led European equities lower as prices of key base metals fell on concerns about economic growth as oil prices rose. Wall Street was also pressured by a disappointing profit outlook from chip maker Texas Instruments, but a jump in IBM shares supported the Dow.

Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were little changed at 10,565.00, showing investors' lack of conviction in a market direction.

Brent oil jumped 2.55 percent to $115.94 a barrel as fighting in Libya intensified and OPEC saw no need for an emergency meeting to consider raising output. Worries that the unrest could spread further in the Middle East also left investors jittery.

"It's a fear trade," said Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets. "It's about the fear of these troubles escalating -- there is some concern about how the Saudi Day of Rage will go on Friday."

Activists in Saudi Arabia have set up Facebook pages calling for protests on March 11 and 20.

Expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would respond to the decline in Libya's output by rising production had driven oil prices lower on Tuesday, one day after they hit a 2-1/2-year high.

In New York, however, U.S. crude oil futures closed lower, after seesawing between gains and losses, as investors eyed a greater-than-expected rise in U.S. stockpiles last week. Oil in New York fell 0.61 percent to settle at $104.38 a barrel.

World stocks edged lower, with the MSCI All-Country World Index down 0.1 percent at 343.21 points.

On Wall Street, the Dow was cushioned by IBM, which jumped 2.2 percent to $165.86. The tech giant's shares hit an all-time high one day after it stuck to its promise to nearly double profits by 2015.

A weaker-than-expected earnings target by Texas Instruments weighed on the Nasdaq, however. Shares of the chip maker fell 3.1 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 1.29 points, or 0.01 percent, to 12,213.09, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 1.80 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,320.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 14.05 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,751.72.

In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed down 0.23 percent.

PORTUGAL IN NEED

Prices of U.S. government bonds rose as investors moved to safe-haven assets after an auction of Portuguese debt revived worries about the financial troubles of peripheral euro zone countries.

U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury notes gained 21/32 in price, with the yield at 3.4675 percent. Prices rose further after the high yield in an auction of $21 billion of reopened 10-year notes came in below market expectations.

Portugal was able to sell 1 billion euros in two-year bonds at an auction but its borrowing cost was the highest since it joined the euro. Lisbon said such yields were unsustainable in the long run without Europe-wide action.

"The auction was always going to go OK ... but I don't think clients are particularly interested in buying the bond," said a trader in London. "The problems remain -- we've got the March 25 summit coming up, we've got continued selling in Greece."

Euro zone leaders are expected to agree on Friday on the next steps in their year-long effort to quell the region's debt crisis, but the summit is unlikely to produce a breakthrough.

The euro fell from an earlier high to trade flat against the dollar as expectations of a euro-zone interest rate hike next month faded and investors focused on the region's debt problems.

Investors worry that monetary policy tightening by the European Central Bank would further raise borrowing costs for peripheral euro zone economies.

The euro was unchanged at $1.3903, falling from an earlier four-month high of $1.4036 hit on electronic trading platform EBS.

Copper for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exchange closed at $9,275 a tonne, down from a close of $9,530 a tonne on Tuesday. - Reuters

#Stocks to watch:* Oil and gas, plantations, Media Chinese, Atis

KUALA LUMPUR: Stocks on Bursa Malaysia could see some hesitancy among investors on Thursday, March 10 after the weaker overnight close on Wall Street while oil prices remained at record high levels.

Reuters reported Brent oil prices jumped on Wednesday, weighing on global stocks, as escalating violence in Libya increased fears that higher energy costs could choke the global economic recovery.

Brent oil jumped 2.55% to US$115.94 a barrel as fighting in Libya intensified and OPEC saw no need for an emergency meeting to consider raising output. Worries that the unrest could spread further in the Middle East also left investors jittery.

On Wall Street, a weak outlook from Texas Instruments weighed on the Nasdaq on Wednesday and pushed an index of chip makers below a key technical level in a worrisome sign for the market's six-month uptrend. The PHLX semiconductor index fell 3% to close below its 50-day moving average, which represents medium-term momentum, for the first time since September.

The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 1.29 points, or 0.01 percent, to finish at 12,213.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 1.80 points, or 0.14 percent, to end at 1,320.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 14.05 points, or 0.51 percent, to close at 2,751.72.

Stocks to watch include banks, oil and gas related stocks, PLANTATION []s, Atis Corp Bhd, MEDIA CHINESE INTERNATIONAL LT []d (MCIL) and STAR PUBLICATIONS (M) BHD [].

Meanwhile, in Envair Holdings Bhd, Ng King Kau has emerged as a substantial shareholder in the ACE Market listed company with 9.739 million shares or 8.22% after acquiring four million shares on March 4.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said on Wednesday applications to increase foreign shareholding for commercial banks would be considered on an individual "merit basis".

He said the foreign shareholding cap for the local commercial banks would be on an individual 'merit basis'. However, there would not be any changes to the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 in the interim as it is an administrative issue.

O&G stocks advanced on Wednesday, led by Petronas Chemicals after it was upgraded and expectations are that they would continue to generate trading interest, riding on high oil prices.

Petroliam Nasional Bhd's recent statement that it would invest RM250 billion over five years to explore new oil fields and for asset replacement would continue to underpin sentiment.

Plantation stocks would be in focus as analysts expect crude palm oil to trade around RM3,500 and possibly hit RM4,000 this year, supported by strong demand.

Meanwhile, three Atis Corp Bhd shareholders, owning a combined 14.4% stake, have requested the company hold an EGM to remove Messrs MAZARS as auditors.

Atis had received three special notices from Sa Chee Peng, Lee Kok Keong and Lim Beng Guan requesting for the EGM to remove MAZARS and appoint Messrs KPMG as new auditors for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010. Sa holds 5.66% stake representing 8.30 million shares; Lee 5.22% or 7.67 million shares and Lim 3.52% (5.17 million shares).

The Edge FinancialDaily reports that Star Publications (M) Bhd has been well regarded as the most profitable media group for years. Its strong and steady cash flow that allows for generous dividend payments is the envy of the industry.

However, Media Chinese International Ltd (MCIL), which has the most Chinese titles in the world, seems to be catching up in the game; its earnings are not that far from the top spot.

A number of new media-related companies are expected to join the fray on Bursa Malaysia this year as they look to ride on the rising advertisement expenditure (adex) this year.

MALTON BHD [] has received the Securities Commission's approval for the issuance of up to RM156.39 million nominal value of RCSLS under the proposed rights issue.