theSun | THURSDAY MAY 21 2009 13

business

KLCI 1,042.63 S
19.14 Nikkei 9,344.64 S
54.35
STI 2,269.24  8.88
S TSEC 6,703.62 S
48.03
Hang Seng 17,475.84 T
68.19 KOSPI 1,435.70  7.49
S
SCI 2,651.41 T
25.27 S&P/ASX200 3,824.60  7.30
S

KL market summary
MAY 20, 2009

EXCHANGE RATE MAY 20, 2009

Heavyweights INDICES
FBMEMAS 6943.53
CHANGE
124.26

Foreign currency Bank sell Bank buy Bank buy

drive shares up COMPOSITE
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT
1042.63
2309.98
19.14
41.60
CONSUMER PRODUCT 307.81 4.58
TT/OD TT OD SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia ended INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT 80.34 0.73
1 US DOLLAR 3.5730 3.5080 3.4980 higher with the benchmark KLCI hitting a CONSTRUCTION 201.53 2.72
new high due to the buying of key heavy- TRADING SERVICES 138.21 2.05
1 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR 2.7960 2.6750 2.6590 FINANCE 8163.00 127.53
weights, especially finance and plantation
1 BRUNEI DOLLAR 2.4470 2.3870 2.3790 PROPERTIES 677.89 6.57
stocks, said dealers. PLANTATION 5336.70 190.86
1 CANADIAN DOLLAR 3.1020 3.0260 3.0140 At 5pm, the benchmark KLCI rose 19.14 MINING 310.05 26.35
1 EURO 4.8820 4.7630 4.7430 points or 1.87% higher at 1,042.63, after FBMSHA 7294.66 150.14
1 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 2.1790 2.0830 2.0670 opening 0.68 of a point easier at 1,022.81 FBM2BRD 4575.45 1.95
in the morning, with an intra-day high of TECHNOLOGY 14.50 0.00
1 PAPUA N GUINEA KINA 1.4160 1.1790 1.1630
1 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 2.4465 2.3870 2.3790 1,044.77. The KLCI previously hit an eight-
TURNOVER VALUE
month high of 1,026.78 on May 8.
1 STERLING POUND 5.5460 5.4110 5.3910 1.872bil RM1.864bil
TA Securities head of research, Stephen
1 SWISS FRANC 3.2360 3.1510 3.1360 Soo, said heavyweights in the market
100 ARAB EMIRATES DIRHAM 99.0700 93.7300 93.5300 experienced a delayed rally after regional The top gainers for the day included
100 BANGLADESH TAKA 5.5200 5.2000 5.0000 markets went on an uptrend yesterday. Kuala Lumpur Kepong which increased 70
100 CHINESE RENMINBI N/A N/A N/A “There could be some foreign buying sen to RM12.00, Nestle which went up 50
100 DANISH KRONE 67.5200 62.0300 61.8300 interest in the heavyweights but the lower sen to RM29.00 and PPB which gained 40
liners were on profit-taking and consolida- sen to RM3.80.
100 HONGKONG DOLLAR 46.9200 44.4400 44.2400 As for the heavyweights, Sime Darby,
tion mode,” he said.
100 INDIAN RUPEE 7.7900 7.1600 6.9600 He expects the market’s support level Maybank and Tenaga Nasional were up 25
100 INDONESIAN RUPIAH 0.0361 0.0310 0.0260 to be at 1,054 and the resistance at 1,021- sen each at RM6.95, RM5.30 and RM7.55
100 JAPANESE YEN 3.7330 3.6430 3.6330 1,000. respectively. Bumiputra-Commerce and
100 NEW TAIWAN DOLLAR N/A N/A N/A Among the active stocks, KNM and TA-WB MISC dropped five sen each to RM8.85 and
100 NORWEGIAN KRONE 57.4900 52.7800 52.5800 slipped one sen each to 80 sen and five sen RM8.45 respectively, IOI Corp gained 16 sen
respectively, SAAG went down 1.5 sen to 35 to RM4.64 and Public Bank went up 15 sen
100 PAKISTAN RUPEE 4.5400 4.2100 4.0100 to RM8.60. – Bernama
sen and Scomi fell three sen to 69 sen.
100 PHILIPPINE PESO 7.7200 7.2600 7.0600
100 QATAR RIYAL 99.7000 94.8300 94.6300
100 SAUDI RIYAL 96.7700 92.0500 91.8500

Malaysia up one
100 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND 43.7100 40.2200 40.0200
100 SRI LANKA RUPEE 3.2100 2.9400 2.7400
100 SWEDISH KRONA 48.2900 43.9100 43.7100
100 THAI BAHT 11.1400 9.4400 9.0400
Source: Malayan Banking Bhd/Bernama

Macau tycoon’s
daughter ‘unsuitable’
for US casino
HONGKONG: Pansy Ho (pix), heir-ap-
parent to the Macau casino empire
run by her tycoon father Stanley
Ho, said yesterday she was study-
ing a US ruling that she was an
“unsuitable” partner for gaming
giant MGM Mirage.
The New Jersey Division of
Gaming Enforcement also recom-
mended that the company be “di-
rected to disengage itself from any
business association” with Pansy Ho,
who owns 50% of the US$1.25 billion
(RM4.4 billion) MGM Grand Macau.
The report was revealed in a filing by MGM to the US
stock exchange late Tuesday. The regulator did not give any
reason for its findings in the filing.
Pansy Ho said in a statement she was aware of the
regulator’s report to the New Jersey Casino Control Com-
mission, which has the power to issue and revoke gaming
licences in the state.
She said: “I and my advisers will need time to read and
consider the contents of the report and decide how best
to respond to it in due course.”
MGM Mirage’s partnership with Pansy Ho has been
approved by regulators in four other US states – Nevada,
Illinois, Michigan and Mississippi – where the company
operates casinos, reports said.
The Financial Times said the regulator’s finding could
jeopardise MGM Mirage’s licence for its casino in Atlantic
City, but the South China Morning Post in Hongkong quoted
MGM as saying the recommendation was “not binding.”
New Jersey formally launched its investigation into
Pansy Ho’s partnership with MGM Mirage in late 2005.
“Stanley Ho is a wealthy Chinese businessman who has
been the subject of numerous public allegations suggesting
that he has ties to Asian organised crime,” the New Jersey
attorney general’s office said in its 2005 annual report,
according to the Post.
Pansy Ho is the eldest child by her father’s third wife
and, is one of the principal heirs to his business empire.
Stanley Ho had enjoyed a monopoly over Macau’s gam-
ing market for four decades until the government began
issuing licences to overseas casino operators in 2002.
He has never been accused of any wrongdoing in
Macau or Hongkong, where his corporate flagships are
listed. – AFP
notch in global
competitiveness
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s ranking
in the world competitiveness moved up
one notch to 18th position this year from
19th place last year, according to the re-
cently released World Competitiveness
Yearbook 2009.
Malaysia is among the top 20 econo-
mies, being at 18th out of 57 econo-
mies.
Malaysia has overtaken Ireland
which slipped to 19th position, China in
20th and Taiwan in 23rd position, said
Minister of International Trade and In-
dustry (Miti) Datuk Mustapa Mohamed
yesterday.
“The challenge this year is to ensure
our position can be sustained next
year, if not improved. So, this will give
encouragement to Miti and all govern-
ment ministries to improve further our
ranking,” Mustapa said during a media
briefing on the World Competitiveness
Yearbook 2009, here yesterday.
Published by the Swiss-based Institute
for Management Development (IMD),
the report is released annually ranking
nations according to their competitive-
ness index.
Malaysia’s competitiveness index
increased to 77.162 this year from 73.199
last year, Mustapa said, adding that it
was the highest index score recorded
indicating the robust competitiveness
environment of Malaysia.
Mustapa said the achievement was
attributed to the collaborative efforts by
both the public sector which provided
the requisite infrastructure, as well
as the private sector which drives the
growth.
“The public sector through its proac-
tive policies had been able to diversify
the economy, attract direct investment
and achieve growth in exports of goods.
“It is encouraging that these had
been achieved in an environment of
stable cost of living and exchange rates.
Through these efforts, Malaysia’s eco-
nomic performance remained among
the top ten,” Mustapa said.
To sustain or improve Malaysia’s
ranking in competitiveness, Mustapa
said the country would have to focus
on the delivery system and raising the
innovative and creative capacity of small
and medium enterprises.
Malaysia also needs to enhance ef-
ficiency and productivity via public and
private sector collaboration to reduce the
costs of doing business, and to ensure
employability of the workforce through
knowledge and skills upgrading.
In terms of economic performance,
Malaysia’s ranking went down to 9th
level from 8th position last year due
to the slowdown in economic growth,
which also impacted the rest of the
world.
The ranking for government effi-
ciency was maintained at 19th position
with the improved performance and in
reflection of the commendable work
done by Taskforce to Facilitate Business
(Pemudah) in streamlining and improv-
ing the government delivery system,
Mustapa said.
Malaysia’s ranking in infrastructure
was at 26th place from 25th position last
year.
Hence, there is a need to improve
infrastructure to drive higher growth in
the economy and develop green tech-
nology for future sustainability, he said.
– Bernama