MARKET ROUNDUP
Most U.S. Stocks Rise as Investors Weigh Data, Speech
As
investors weighed economic reports and President Barack Obama’s State
of the Union address. The S&P 500 advanced 0.1 percent to 1,520.33
at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 35.79
points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,982.91. Four stocks gained for every three
that fell on U.S. exchanges, with about 6 billion shares changing
hands, 2.9 percent lower than the three-month average. Retail sales in
the U.S. rose 0.1 percent last month, matching the median forecast of
economists surveyed by Bloomberg, which showed household spending is
holding up even as an increase in the payroll tax takes a bigger bite
from paychecks.
WTI OIL FALLS ON IRAN NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS
After
Iran said it was nearing agreement with nuclear inspectors and as the
Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude output rose to the
highest level in 20 years. Crude oil for March delivery fell 50 cents to
settle at $97.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures
have declined 3.9 percent in the past year.
PALM OIL EXPORTS FROM INDONESIA SEEN FALLING TO FOUR-MONTH LOW
The
world’s largest grower, may decline to the lowest level in four months
in February as more buyers turn to Malaysia after it extended duty-free
shipments to clear record stockpiles. Malaysia, the second-largest
producer, set its tax on crude exports at zero for January and February
after revamping tariffs to combat the biggest ever reserves. Prices in
Kuala Lumpur, which lost 23 percent last year as the stockpiles
accumulated, have climbed 3.2 percent in 2013 amid speculation the
reserves will drop as exports gain and supply contracts. Futures on the
Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, the regional benchmark, fell 1.7 percent
to 2,516 ($814) a ton at 5:34 p.m. yesterday after the Palm Oil Board
released January data for reserves, shipments and output. Stockpiles
fell 1.9 percent from a record to 2.58 million tons, a smaller decline
than forecast. Exports declined 1.6 percent as production dropped 10
percent. - Bloomberg
NEWS
AZRB signs RM1.55bil East Klang Valley Expressway deal
AZRB
said in a note to Bursa Malaysia that the concession period shall be
for a period of 50 years, adding that the Government had agreed to
provide a loan amounting to RM635mil at an interest rate of 4% per
annum. Under the concession agreement, AZRB said the works would involve
the design and construction of the expressway, including the upgrading
works and the widening of the existing road, as well as the supply and
installation of tolling and other equipment (including
telecommunications equipment) at the toll plaza, and managing, operating
and maintaining the same on the expressway during the concession
period. The concession also grants AZRB the right to demand, collect and
retain the toll for its own benefit from all vehicles liable to pay
toll using the expressway during the operating period.
http://biz.thestar.com.my
Online insurance attractive, Tune and others competing for its strong profit margins
One
insurer intending to lead the pack is Tune Ins Holdings Bhd. Although
there are some hurdles in this new channel of distribution, the company,
like other insurers, is bullish on the scope of this channel going
forward. Tune Ins, which had a database of 7.6 million online
policyholders as at Dec 31, 2012, sold six million insurance policies
online last year, putting the company at the forefront of this growing
business segment. An industry observer felt that the longstanding
tariffs for products such as motor insurance and fire insurance had been
holding Malaysia back. Essentially, motor tariff insurance companies,
on average, lose money, while the fire tariff insurance companies make
decent profits. http://biz.thestar.com.my
People world-wide are buying fewer mobile-phones for the first time in four years
Smartphone
sales, a category dominated by Samsung and Apple, continued to rise, he
said, and the higher-end devices would account for more than half the
market for the first time this year. Total worldwide mobile sales to
endusers fell 1.7% to 1.75 billion units in 2012, Gartner said. Samsung
and Apple continued to dominate the market, with the South Korean
company selling 385 million phones in 2012, of which 53.5% were
smartphones, with Apple selling 130 million smartphones. In the fourth
quarter alone, Apple and Samsung accounted for 52% of smartphone sales,
up from 46% in the third quarter. China's Huawei reached third spot in
worldwide smartphone sales for the first time in the fourth quarter,
Gartner said. The company sold 27.2 million smartphones to end-users in
2012, up 74%. - Reuters
MRCB-Gapurna deal excites investors and analysts
MRCB
on Sunday entered into a collective share sale agreements to acquire
Nusa Gapurna Development Sdn Bhd's (NGD) subsidiaries, Gelanggang
Harapan Construction Sdn Bhd (GHC) and Gapurna Global Solutions for a
RM729 million. Its acquisition of NGD's subsidiaries include Gapurna
Builders Sdn Bhd, Gapurna Land Sdn Bhd, Puncak Wangi Sdn Bhd and 70%
owned PJ Sentral Development Sdn Bhd for RM459 million. The subsidiaries
own a combined 13.23ha of land in the Klang Valley, increasing MRCB's
depleting landbank from 20.23ha to 33.59ha. The total GDV of NGD's land
is estimated at RM5.7 billion. http://www.thesundaily.my
Jupiter Securities Research - 14 Feb 2013
there is no more stock overview?
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