Friday, August 20, 2010

20100820 1306 FKLI Mid Day Hourly Chart Study.

FKLI closed : 1389, changed : unchanged, volume : low.
Bollinger band reading : range bound upside biased.
MACD Histrogram : getting lower, buyer book in profit.
Support : 1385, 1375, 1360 level.
Resistant : 1395, 1405, 1425 level.
Comment :
Overnight lower U.S. market lead FKLI to opened gap down and tested lower but recover upward higher and ended the first session unchanged in quiet volume traded. Hourly chart shows price opened lower and hovering around middle Bollinger band level with the reading suggesting a range bound upside biased market development.

20100820 1245 FCPO Mid Day Hourly Chart Study.

FCPO closed : 2549, changed : -46 points, volume : high.
Bollinger band reading : downside biased.
MACD Histrogram : getting lower, seller getting encouragement to stay put.
Support : 2520, 2500, 2470 level.
Resistant : 2550, 2570, 2600 level.
Comment :
Overnight soy oil futures price fall lead FCPO to opened and traded lower breaking 2 support levels in high transaction volume. Hourly chart shows market opened and moving along lower Bollinger band testing lower support level with the outlook having downside biased reading with possible pullback correction.

20100820 1103 Local & Global Economic News.

Malaysia: Yields drop, ringgit soars to ’97 peak
Malaysian bond yields fell as local banks stepped up buying of debt anticipating a pickup in capital inflows after the central bank eased regulations on ringgit deals in trade settlements. Benchmark five year bond yields dropped to 3.32%, approaching an 18-month low of 3.29% last week. Ringgit rallied 1% to 3.1250 per USD, its highest since the 1997 Asian financial crisis and has extended its gains to 9% so far this year, making it the best-performing Asian currency. (Financial Daily)

Thailand: May increase interest rate as exports hold up economy
Thailand may raise interest rates a second straight month and report economic growth of more than 7% as surging exports drive a recovery after political turmoil prompted a crackdown on protesters last quarter. Eleven of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predict the central bank will increase its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 1.75% on 25 Aug. (Bloomberg)

Japan: BOJ said to be still assessing economic impact of stronger yen
The Bank of Japan is still assessing the economic effect of the yen’s rise to a 15-year high, according to three people familiar with the matter, as speculation mounts that it will consider easing monetary policy. Japanese policy makers are facing pressure to support the economy after the yen’s climb to 84.73 against the dollar on 11 Aug, the highest since 1995, stoked concern that exporters’ earnings could weaken and deflation might deepen. (Bloomberg)

US: Jobless claims rise, factories slump
Claims for US jobless benefits jumped to the highest level since November and Philadelphia-area manufacturing shrank for the first time in a year, indicating the economy may be slowing faster than forecast. The number of unemployment claims unexpectedly shot up by 12,000 to 500,000 in the week ended 14 Aug, Labor Department figures showed. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index turned negative in August, signaling contraction. (Bloomberg)

US: Budget deficit put at USD1.066trn in 2011
The US Congressional Budget Office predicted the budget deficit for fiscal year 2011 will be USD1.066trn revised up from an estimate of USD996bn in March. The nonpartisan agency’s semi-annual budget report is likely to add fuel to the November midterm election debate over reducing the deficit at a time when the nation’s economic recovery may call for more stimulus. Report estimated that the deficit will be 7% of the nation’s GDP in 2011. (Bloomberg)

20100820 1102 Malaysia Corporate News.

US stocks retreat, treasuries gain on recovery concerns; oil drops
Stocks fell, erasing a three-day gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, after manufacturing in the Philadelphia area unexpectedly shrank and jobless claims rose, spurring concern the economic recovery is in jeopardy. Treasury two-year yields slid to a record low. The S&P 500 slipped 1.7% to 1,075.63 at 4 pm in New York, its lowest close in a month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.4% to 10,271.21. Yields on two-year notes dropped as low as 0.4796%. Gold futures reached their highest price since 1 July and wheat jumped 3.7%. Crude oil declined 1.3% to USD74.45 a barrel. US equities opened lower after initial jobless claims rose by 12,000 to 500,000 in the week ended 14 Aug. Stocks extended losses as the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s manufacturing gauge slumped to the lowest level in 13 months. Europe’s benchmark index erased earlier gains triggered when Germany’s central bank raised its forecast for economic growth. (Bloomberg)

Kwong Hing buys Menara Pan Global
Property developer and manager Kwong Hing Group has bought Menara Pan Global, located within the Golden Triangle, for an estimated RM160m from PanGlobal, sources say. Menara Pan Global, a 38-storey building in Jalan Puncak, off Jalan P. Ramlee, houses 18 levels of office space with a total built-up of 400,000 sq ft. The 18-year-old building also houses nine levels of hotel suites operated by Pacific Regency, while another eight levels have a total of 420 parking bays. A source told Business Times that Kwong Hing paid a deposit for the purchase last week. (BT)

MMHE expected to list on Bursa by October
MISC, the shipping arm of Petronas, says engineering and construction unit Malaysian Marine and Heavy Engineering SB (MMHE) is on track to a listing by October. MISC president and chief executive officer Datuk Nasarudin Md Idris did not say when the listing prospectus would be launched. "Yes, the target (to list MMHE in the fourth quarter) is still there. Hopefully, we can do it by end-October," he said after MISC's AGM in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Asked if MISC had completed the bookbuilding and pricing for the initial public offering (IPO), Nasarudin said: "We have not even launched the prospectus for MMHE and we have yet to go to the EGM for MISC to seek shareholder approval. (BT)

TMC Life chief explains share sale, plans to stay
The chief of TMC Life Sciences Bhd says he sold all his shares in the fertility treatment specialist because the new investors would grow the group further. Managing director Datuk Dr Colin Lee Soon Soo also expects to stay on with the group, and business to be better with its turnaround plan. Dr Lee and his brother sold their entire stakes, or a quarter of TMC, to Singapore billionaire Peter Lim Eng Hock this week. Lim also bought another 4.6% stake, bringing his tally to 29.6%. This makes him the second largest shareholder, after Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun, who owns about 31% of the company. "First of all, I disposed of my stake to an investor who sees the intrinsic value and potential of TMC. I have built the company from a fertility centre to an established healthcare centre offering various services. At the same time, I can continue to put in my best efforts to grow the company, especially in the fertility centre, a niche segment that has been our strength all along and offers the highest margin," Dr Lee told Business Times. (BT)

Lion Group to invest RM500m in iron ore business
Lion Group is prepared to invest RM500m to set up an iron ore mining operation in Pahang or Terengganu as global ore prices have soared while competition has increased substantially with the liberalization of the sector. The country’s biggest steel products maker is negotiating with the state and Federal Government on the proposal and if approved, the group via one of its listed units, could start work within 6 months, according to its chairman Tan Sri William Cheng. (Malaysian Reserves)

HLBB still committed to EONCap
Hong Leong Bank (HLBB) is still committed to its proposed RM5.06bn takeover of EON Capital (EONCap), despite delays by the latter in obtaining shareholder approval at an EGM. HLBB group managing director and chief executive Yvonne Chia said the bank had already obtained regulatory approvals from the Ministry of Finance to proceed with the deal and that indicated the seriousness of HLBB in acquiring the entire assets and liabilities of EONCap. In an announcement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, HLBB said it would allow EONCap to convene an EGM to obtain shareholders’ approval for the proposed takeovers in the targeted bank by 30 Sept. The earlier deadline for EONCap to convene its EGM in relation to the proposed deal was set for today. (Financial Daily)

Media Prima to focus on tie-ups Media Prima will focus on tie-ups with foreign media companies as part of its overall growth strategy, its chief said. Group managing director Datuk Amrin Awaluddin said that as a step towards this, the company had recently formed a partnership with Indonesia’s Surya Citra Televisi, for joint content production and sharing of artistes. Media Prima also has a similar working relationship with Singapore’s Media Corp, which it had formed in 2007. “By doing this, we get to share our content, costs and be able to reach a wider range of viewers plus there’s no element of heavy equity investment,” he said. He added the company would not be making overseas equity investments anytime soon. (StarBiz)

20100820 1022 Global Market News.

GLOBAL MARKETS: World stocks, oil fall as data stokes worries
NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Fear gripped world markets on Thursday, pummeling stocks and driving the dollar to a near 15-year low against the yen as the latest economic data spurred new worries of a deepening slowdown in the United States that could reverberate around the world.
"The U.S. macroeconomic numbers once again increased doubts regarding the strengths of the U.S. economy in the second half and raised concerns that the economy might be weakening more than previously anticipated," said Tammo Greetfeld, equity strategist at UniCredit in Munich. 

Stocks at 1-wk high; BOJ easing view hits yen
LONDON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - World stocks hit a one-week high as an upbeat German growth forecast and optimism on consumer demand spurred buying in risky assets, while the yen fell on speculation Japan may ease monetary policy further. The Bundesbank said the German economy is set to brow by around 3 percent this year, better than a previous forecast of almost 2 percent. Germany registered the fastest expansion since reunification of 2.2 percent in the second quarter.

20100820 1014 Soy Oil & Palm Oil Related News.

SGS export down 3.8% to 837,526 tonnes  for the period of 1~20 Aug 2010.
ITS export down 1.8% to 863,289 tonnes  for the period of 1~20 Aug 2010.

Soy product futures stumbled in unison with soybeans. Soyoil was the downside leader as the bearish influence of ample U.S. supplies, weakness in world vegetable oil markets, and sliding crude oil futures weighed on prices. The market slipped to three-week lows. December soyoil settled 0.97 cent, or 2.3%, lower at 40.48 cents per pound. Soymeal futures retreated as well, succumbing to pressure from declining soybean futures. December soymeal ended $4.90, or 1.6%, lower at $295.10 per short ton. (Source: CME)

Palm oil at more than two-week lows on ringgit, supply
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell to their lowest in more than two weeks over concerns the appreciating ringgit currency would hit refining margins while the soy production outlook stayed strong. Palm oil has recouped some of its losses in 2010 although it may fall further as a stronger ringgit against the U.S. dollar could lead to lower margins for refiners who buy crude palm oil in the Malaysian currency for processing and export in the U.S. currency.

Argentina urges talks on China soyoil export ban
BEIJING, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Argentina hopes to begin talks with China later in the year to help resolve a tit-for-tat trade dispute that ended with the ban of Argentinian soyoil shipments in April, the country's ambassador to Beijing said on Thursday. China suspended Argentinian soyoil deliveries in April in response to a series of anti-dumping measures against Chinese steel, shoes and textile products, but Argentina has invited a Chinese delegation to visit the country in November and try to ease the frictions, Cesar Mayoral told Reuters in an interview.