Friday, March 19, 2010

20100319 1826 FCPO Weekly Chart Study.

FCPO closed : 2577, changed : -72 points, volume : higher.
Bollinger band reading : side way range bound.
MACD Histrogram : getting weaker, buyer retreating.
Support : 2530, 2500, 2450 level.
Resistant : 2580, 2630, 2700 level.
Comment :
FCPO ended the week weaker with accelerating volume transacted. Weekly chart side way range bound upside biased reading remained unchanged and expecting trading range to get narrower with the Bollinger band width squeenzing tighter.

20100319 1815 FCPO EOD Daily Chart Study.

FCPO closed : 2577, changed : +42 points, volume : lower.
Bollinger band reading : bearish biased market.
MACD Histrogram : falling paused, seller reduce exposure.
Support : 2570, 2550, 2521 level.
Resistant : 2590, 2620, 2650 level.
Comment :
FCPO last minutes short covering pushed price to closed near the high ahead of the weekend recovered most of yesterday losses with lesser volume traded. Daily chart reading still showing a downside biased market with temporary pullback upward correction and the correction is likely to continue by going side way range bound testing higher resistant level.
When to buy : buy at support or weakness with quick cut loss and profit target.
When to sell : sell at resistant or strength with larger cut loss and profit target.

20100319 1732 FKLI Weekly Chart Study.

FKLI closed : 1298, changed : -18 points, volume : lower.
Bollinger band reading : side way upside biased.
MACD Histrogram : recovered slightly, buyer staying.
Support : 1270, 1250, 1230  level.
Resistant : 1300, 1310, 1350 level.
Comment :
FKLI ended the week lower doing a downward correction pullback after last week overdone climatic upward surge with weaker volume participation. Weekly chart technical outlook suggesting market to trade side way range bound correction but remained upside biased as the underlying trend on the weekly basis is still up.

20100319 1720 FKLI EOD Daily Chart Study.

FKLI closed : 1298, changed : +1 point, volume : higher.
Bollinger band reading : side way correction.
MACD Histrogram : falling, seller still in.
Support : 1295, 1290, 1285 level.
Resistant : 1300, 1307, 1315 level.
Comment :
Supported FKLI ended the day marginally higher with improved volume after earlier session sell down. Daily chart wise, market seems found temporary support at the middle Bollinger band level and is likely to trade side way range bound testing support and resistant.
When to buy : buy at support or weakness with quick cut loss and profit target.
When to sell : sell at resistant or strength with quick cut loss and profit target.

20100319 1454 FCPO Mid Day Hourly Chart Study.

FCPO closed : 2548, changed : +13 points, volume : low.
Bollinger band reading : side way downside biased.
MACD Histrogram : reversed upward, seller still in control.
Support : 2521, 2500, 2470 level.
Resistant : 2550, 2570, 2590 level.
Comment :
Pullback effect took place in FCPO that managed to recovered small portion of yesterday losses in thin volume. Chart wise, the upward correction market is likely to stay side way range bound with a little downside biased.

20100319 1441 FKLI Mid Day Hourly Chart Study.

FKLI last looked : 1297.5, changed : +0.5 point, volume : higher.
Bollinger band reading : side way downside biased.
MACD Histrogram : recovering, seller taking partial profit.
Support : 1295, 1290, 1285 level.
Resistant : 1300, 1307, 1315 level.
Comment :
Firt session FKLI traded side way range bound with improved volume. Hourly chart suggesting a side way range bound downside biased market with temporary upward correction.

20100319 1013 Malaysia Corporate News.

The traditional light bulb will no longer be available by Jan-2014, as part of efforts to save power. Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Peter Chin said, “The shift to more energy-efficient bulbs will help reduce energy usage in the country by 1,074 GW per year. This is 1% of the total current usage.” In money terms, Chin said the shift would save RM336m a year in energy costs and this would allow consumers to better deal with any increase in tariffs that might occur in the future. (The Star)

The current El Nino dry spell, if prolonged until middle of this year in major palm oil growing states in Malaysia, could result in lower-than-expected production for the year. This could also cause the CPO prices to stay firm at RM2,400 to RM2,800 per tonne for the rest of 2010, says industry players. While January to March was traditionally a low peak production season for palm oil, planters expected the impact of El Nino on the growth of oil palm FFB to be felt only within the next 8-10 months, said Malaysian Estate Owners Association official Mr Boon Weng Siew. (Starbiz)

Planters in Malaysia's top palm oil producing state of Sabah say continuing hot weather could chip 10% off production this month after February's monthly slide of 15%. The situation is no better in Peninsular Malaysia. We only get very light showers in the morning, after that its good-bye rain, said an official with a palm plantation in Sabah. (Reuters)

Indonesia asked Nestle SA and Unilever NV to use the proper channel in addressing any environmental issues with regards to palm oil from the country, the world’s largest producer. Nestle replaced Sinar Mas Group with an unidentified palm oil supplier after Greenpeace called on the world’s largest food maker to cut ties with the Indonesian company, the Vevey, Switzerland-based company said. Greenpeace published a report yesterday saying Sinar Mas has unlawfully destroyed rain forests to set up palm oil plantations. Greenpeace wrote to Nestle saying it has “evidence that Sinar Mas is breaking Indonesian law” and ignoring international environmental commitments, the environmentalist group said on its Web site. “It’s not fair if major companies such as Nestle and Unilever dropped supplies from Indonesian producers just based on one report,” Fadhil Hasan, executive director at the Indonesian Palm Oil Association, or Gapki, said in Jakarta. “They should’ve re-verified the report and gone through a mechanism in the RSPO before making such a decision,” he said. (Bloomberg)

Datuk Seri Najib Razak is optimistic that the automotive sector will grow healthily in tandem with the expansion of the domestic economy this year. The prime minister said Malaysians will surprise themselves with an economic growth of between 5-6%. Meanwhile, DRB-HICOM managing director Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil Jamil said the group is budgeting RM20m for three new Audi sales and service outlets including the Audi KL this year. (BT)

Proton Holdings expects the launch of the Persona Elegance to boost the sales of the Persona series to 4,000 units per month. Its managing director, Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, said the Persona, the second best selling model after the Saga, had maintained a monthly sales average of 3,600 units. "We have done some changes to the car like introducing a number of subtle refinements, enhancements and upgrades," he said. (Bernama)

Proton Holdings plans to finalise its India strategy with the Hero Group by the second half of this year, said its top executive. "We are in discussion. Obviously, there are many things that we need to iron out. We have an understanding with all of our partners but we won't go into details right now," managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said. He said the board appointment of BVR Subbu, a former marketing head of Hyundai Motors in India, was a "clear indication" of Proton's commitment to enter into the world's largest small car market. (BT)

The recent problems with certain Toyota cars in the US have not adversely affected sales of Toyota cars in Malaysia, Lexus Malaysia, UMW Toyota Motor president Kuah Kok Heng said. On the contrary, he said sales for the first two months of this year had increased by almost 22% from the same period last year. He said the company had received calls from concerned buyers, but "after our explanations, they were satisfied." (Financial Daily)

Telekom Malaysia (TM) has spent about RM1.9bn and the government some RM990m, to-date, in rolling out the high-speed broadband (HSBB), Group CEO Datuk Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said. "We are expecting to get about 750,000 premises passed by year-end," he said adding that pyhsical work for the 44 exchanges, out of 95 exchanges nationwide, would be completed by year-end. The initial four areas that will be covered by TM HSBB services, at the time of service launch, are Shah Alam, Subang Jaya, Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Bangsar. Zamzamzairani said the roll-out of HSBB would contribute about 1% to GDP. (Bernama)

EON Capital received the resignation letters of its Chairman Tan Sri Syed Anwar Jamalluail, as well as those of its other directors, Datuk Dr. Mohd Shahari Bin Ahmad Jabar, Rodney Gordon Ward and Yeo Kar Peng. The resignations are subject to clearance from Bank Negara Malaysia. (Bernama)

The world’s fourth Universal Studios welcomed its first visitors yesterday. “We have ambitions that this would be the No 1 destination in Asia and also Europe as far as theme parks are concerned,” Genting Group chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay said. Asked if Universal Studios Singapore could lose its novelty quickly and suffer loses like Hong Kong’s Disneyland, Lim said, “Definitely not, we are different from Disney.” He added that the park would bring in more rides over the next three year to keep the experience “fresh” for visitors. (Reuters)

Tan Sri Vincent Tan, founder and owner of Berjaya Group, remains hopeful of assembling BYD’s cars in Malaysia although a minister had said the group won't be given an exception to do so. "I believe the government will consider this seriously, Malaysia needs more investment. In case the government doesn't want to let us do it here, we can do it in other Asean countries and export the cars back to Malaysia,” he said. BCorp is still putting together its application, which includes not just 1-litre cars but medium-sized ones as well. "We can't just have one type. We need to have a variety in order to be successful," Tan said. (BT)

Berjaya Retail, the retail arm of Berjaya Corp, expects to be listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia by June or July, said Berjaya Group chairman and CEO Tan Sri Vincent Tan. The flotation exercise would raise RM50m and would be utilised for expansions, he said. Under the exercise, BCorp would sell Singer to BRetail for RM360m and 7-Eleven for RM600m. (Malaysian Reserve)

Alam Maritim has clinched a RM19m charter hire of a launch barge from 27 March. The 45-day charter includes options for weekly extension to be exercised 7 days prior to option period. (BT)

Petra Perdana has secured a 5-year, US$14.48m Islamic loan from HSBC Amanah. The money will be used to pay for the purchase of a work boat. (BMSB)

The Hock Heng Stone Industries public issue under which 6m shares were made available for application by the Malaysian public have been oversubscribed. A total of 4,274 applications for 72.875m shares were received from the public for a total of 6m shares available for subscription, which represents an oversubscription of 11.15 times. (BT)

Magna Prima does not foresee further delay on the land purchase from Ho Hup Construction’s unit following the latter’s board revamp. CEO Yoong Nim Chee said the company would soon establish a dialogue with Ho Hup’s new board, which was appointed at the EGM on Wednesday. (Financial Daily)

LCL Corp's lenders, EON Bank, Bank Muamalat Malaysia and Alliance Bank Malaysia, have served the company with notices demanding RM19.4m for loans taken by three of its subsidiaries. (Malaysian Reserve)

20100319 1005 Malaysian Economic News.

PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that the economy can expand between 5.0-6.0% this year, faster than the government’s official forecast of 2.0-3.0% growth. “We are sparing no efforts to achieve this growth and to help Malaysia achieve its goal to become a highincome nation. I see signs that with hard work, a commitment to innovation and creativity, Malaysia will be able to deliver that rate of growth this year,” he said. (Bloomberg)

PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that the proposed goods and services tax (GST) is not an additional tax but intended to replace the existing tax structure. However, he said no particular date has been set to implement the GST after the second reading of its bill at the Dewan Rakyat this week, was postponed. This postponement was not a "u-turn" by the government on policy. What is important is to get the buy-in and support from the people, he added. (Bernama)

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said that the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) incorporates several important elements and aspects of the Blue Ocean Strategy. The Blue Ocean Strategy, which emphasised the effectiveness of thinking out of the box, had been applied indirectly since the country achieved independence more than 50 years ago. (Bernama)

The MIC wants the government to create a monitoring mechanism to ensure success of the delivery system under the New Economic Model (NEM) and the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP). Party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the mechanism would ensure the realisation of all policies and initiatives for the Indian community within the stipulated time frame, especially that of the 10MP. (Bernama)

The Human Resource Ministry will establish a relief fund for loss of employment to assist workers retrenched by employers without receiving any compensation. Its minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the Social Security Organisation (Socso) with the technical assistance of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) was finalising the actuarial study on the establishment of the fund. The relief fund would help the workers with a certain amount of money for a period of about six months, as well as helping them to find new employment. (Bernama)

20100319 1000 Global Economic News.

US initial jobless claims fell 5,000 to 457,000 in Mar 13 week after seasonal adjustment. The level was slightly above the 455,000 level expected by the market. The 4-week moving average of initial claims was 471,250, down 4,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 475,500. Heavy snowstorms in the Northeast shut down government offices in February. As a result, the Labor Department had a backlog of claims that it wasn't able to process on time, which inflated the numbers in the following weeks. The government said 4,579,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended March 6, the most recent data available. That's up 12,000 from the preceding week's revised 4,567,000 claims. (CNN Money)

US consumer prices in February rose amid higher energy costs, but the pace of price increases slowed for the second straight month. Inflation rose 2.1% yoy in February (+2.6% in Jan), driven by a 37% climb in gasoline costs during the period. On a mom basis, prices were unchanged. The so-called core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 1.3% yoy, the smallest gain since February 2004. Core CPI for the month rose 0.1% mom. (CNN Money)

The US government's unprecedented US$700bn economic bailout will actually cost taxpayers just 16% of that total, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report released Wednesday. The Treasury's losses on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) will total US$109bn over the program's lifetime, CBO latest estimates show. That's up US$10bn from the agency's January projection. (CNN Money)

A scaled-down, US$17.6bn jobs bill signed into law by President Obama on Thursday features a handful of benefits for business owners, but falls short of the sweeping hiring incentives President Obama and some lawmakers on Capitol Hill initially pushed for. The bill offers employers two tax breaks for qualifying new workers hired in 2010. Companies will be exempt from paying their share of Social Security payroll taxes. (CNN Money)

White House economic coordinator Lawrence Summers
Thursday slammed the intense and well bankrolled lobbying effort to block reform of financial system oversight by portraying the banks as underdogs and stressed that the system must be made safe from failure. Summers said the case for regulatory reform is clear. "All too often a system that is designed to diversify its spread risk has instead been a source of risk" producing an average of about one crisis every three years, starting with the Latin American debt crisis in the 1980s. (Xinhua)

European exports rose 5.0% yoy in January as the global economy gathered strength. Imports rose 1.0% yoy, resulting in a trade deficit of €8.9bn in January (+€4.1bn in Dec 09). Economists had projected a €4.0bn trade deficit in January. (Bloomberg)

China was the only one of the euro area’s main trading partners to boost purchases of goods from the region last year as the Asian economy reinforced its position as the engine of global growth. Euro-area exports to China rose 4.0% in 2009. Overall shipments abroad from the 16-nation region fell 18.0%, with those to the US and the UK, the euro area’s biggest trade partners, declining about 20.0%. (Bloomberg)

The International Monetary Fund continues to provide technical assistance to Greece, but the country has not asked for financial support and Europe is expected to resolve the issue internally, an IMF spokeswoman said. An IMF team is currently in Greece as part of the technical assistance it is providing on the banking sector, but "We've often said that we expect eurozone countries to want to and plan to resolve this question by themselves," spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson said. (Xinhua)

Japan’s large manufacturers were optimistic for a third consecutive quarter. Sentiment among manufacturers with more than ¥1.0bn in capital was 4.3 pts in 1Q10 (13.2 pts in 4Q09). The increase was restrained by rising raw-material costs, which hurt food and chemical producers. A number greater than zero means optimists outnumber pessimists. (Bloomberg)

A rise in the yuan would be a disaster for labour-intensive Chinese exporters as frictions grow with the US and other Western powers over Beijing’s stable currency policy, said Zhang Wei, vice-chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. Exporters in labour-intensive sectors with profit margin as low as 3.0% will face the immediate risk of going bust, he added. (Financial Daily)

India’s food-price inflation slowed to 16.3% yoy in the week ended 6 Mar, marking a four-month low as bigger winter crops boosted supplies of sugar and wheat. That compared to 17.8% yoy gain in the previous week.(Bloomberg)

India ’s credit rating outlook was upgraded to “stable” from “negative” by Standard & Poor ’s on optimism faster economic growth will help the government cut its budget deficit. “The revision in outlook reflects our view that India’s fiscal position could now begin to recover and that its economy will remain on a strong growth path,” S&P said, while maintaining the nation’s long-term local and foreign-currency rating at BBB-, the lowest investment grade. (Bloomberg)