theSun | WEDNESDAY MAY 20 2009  15

1,023.49 S
11.48 9,290.29 S
251.60
business KLCI
STI 2,260.36 S
83.38
Nikkei
TSEC 6,655.59 S
77.78
Hang Seng 17,544.03 521.12
S KOSPI 1,428.21 S
41.53
SCI 2,676.00 S
23.90 S&P/ASX200 3,817.30 S
81.70

KL market summary

MAY 19, 2009 KL shares end higher

INDICES CHANGE KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa bargain hunting and profit taking,” he said.
FBMEMAS 6,824.22 +95.24 Malaysia ended higher yesterday following Gainers led losers by 544 to 157,
COMPOSITE 1,023.49 +11.48 an overnight rally on Wall Street and a rise while 155 counters were unchanged, 404
INDUSTRIAL 2,271.78 +14.52 in the crude oil price which gave plantation untraded and 58 others suspended.
CONSUMER PRODUCT 303.44 -0.25
related stocks a boost, dealers said. Volume increased to 1.754 billion shares
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT 79.32 +1.45
CONSTRUCTION 198.41 +2.90 At 5pm, the benchmark Kuala Lumpur worth RM1.599 billion from 1.697 billion
TRADING SERVICES 136.24 +1.79 Composite Index ended 11.48 points higher shares worth RM1.319 billion on Monday.
FINANCE 8,058.98 +102.96 at 1,023.49, after opening 7.03 points firmer at Among the active stocks, TA-WB slipped
1,023.36 in the morning. The CI recorded an in- one sen to six sen, KNM gained seven sen to
PROPERTIES
PLANTATIONS
669.10
5,136.59
+10.43
+95.08 tra-day high of 1,027.38 and a low of 1,017.53. 81 sen, SAAG went up three sen to 36.5 sen,
EXCHANGE RATES MAY 19, 2009
MINING 283.70 +8.10 Jupiter Securities’ head of research, and Scomi rose 7.5 sen to 72 sen.
FBMSHA 7,144.70 +109.41
Pong Teng Siew said that by noon buying Top gainers for the day included Con- Foreign currency Bank sell Bank buy Bank buy
FBM2BRD 4,504.98 +34.33
activities had spread to other stocks such crete Engineering Products which increased TT/OD TT OD
TECHNOLOGY 14.36 +0.18
as banking, glove makers, oil and gas, and 60 sen to RM3.30, TopGlove which went up 1 US DOLLAR 3.5730 3.5080 3.4980
TURNOVER VALUE construction. “However, I think we will see 35 sen to RM6.10 and Panasonic Manu- 1 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR 2.7670 2.6460 2.6300
108.772bil RM38.522bil some selling tomorrow. The trend for the facturing Malaysia which gained 30 sen to 1 BRUNEI DOLLAR 2.4490 2.3860 2.3780
past two weeks has been alternate days of RM11.20. – Bernama
1 CANADIAN DOLLAR 3.0780 3.0030 2.9910
1 EURO 4.8530 4.7360 4.7160
1 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 2.1550 2.0600 2.0440
1 PAPUA N GUINEA KINA 1.4210 1.1990 1.1830

China lets HSBC, BEA World

losers in
sport
pg 29
1 SINGAPORE DOLLAR
1 STERLING POUND
1 SWISS FRANC
100 ARAB EMIRATES DIRHAM
100 BANGLADESH TAKA
100 CHINESE RENMINBI
2.4485
5.4900
3.2140
99.0700
5.5200
N/A
2.3860
5.3580
3.1340
93.8300
5.2000
N/A
2.3780
5.3380
3.1190
93.6300
5.0000
N/A

issue yuan bonds in HK

BEIJING: China has given
the green light for Bank of
East Asia and HSBC to issue
yuan bonds in Hongkong,
state media said yesterday,
the first time foreign-invested
lenders have been allowed to
sell such debt.
It would also give Beijing
the opportunity to make the
currency more prevalent
as the government looks to
expand its influence.
The Chinese arms of
London-based HSBC and
Hongkong’s BEA received
permission from the State
Council, or cabinet, according
to the Financial News, which
is run by the central bank.
The announcement came report cited an unnamed cen- outlets on the mainland,” she said.
100 DANISH KRONE
100 HONGKONG DOLLAR
100 INDIAN RUPEE
100 INDONESIAN RUPIAH
100 JAPANESE YEN
100 NEW TAIWAN DOLLAR
67.1100
46.9100
7.7800
0.0359
3.7160
N/A
61.6800
44.4300
7.1500
0.0310
3.6270
N/A
61.4800
44.2300
6.9500
0.0260
3.6170
N/A
amid growing indications that tral bank official as saying. Previously only the Asian Develop- 100 NORWEGIAN KRONE 56.9400 52.3200 52.1200
China wishes to create condi- It is the first time foreign- ment Bank and International Finance 100 PAKISTAN RUPEE 4.5400 4.2500 4.0500
tions for a more powerful yuan invested commercial banks Corporation had been allowed to sell 100 PHILIPPINE PESO 7.7000 7.2300 7.0300
on the global scene, reflected have won approval to sell yuan bonds, and only in China.
100 QATAR RIYAL 99.7000 94.8300 94.6300
in a series of swap agreements yuan-denominated bonds, The two development organisations
with foreign governments. according to May Yan, an issued a total of 2.1 billion yuan (RM1.1 100 SAUDI RIYAL 96.7700 92.0500 91.8500
The Chinese central analyst with Nomura Inter- million) in debt in the Chinese interbank 100 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND 43.2700 39.8100 39.6100
bank governor earlier this national in Hongkong. market in 2005. Bank of China and four 100 SRI LANKA RUPEE 3.2100 2.9400 2.7400
year also created waves by “For the Chinese govern- other Chinese lenders have also issued 100 SWEDISH KRONA 48.1000 43.7400 43.5400
suggesting in an essay that a ment, there may be some con- yuan-denominated bonds in Hongkong 100 THAI BAHT 11.1100 9.4100 9.0100
replacement of the US dollar siderations such as (the ability) since 2007, the Financial News said. – AFP Source: Malayan Banking Bhd/Bernama
as the world’s reserve cur- to expand the use of the yuan
rency was a possibility. outside China,” she said.
The bonds will give the
banks a broader range of
Meanwhile, “yuan fund-
ing is quite important to M&S profits slump, slashes dividend
options when it comes to foreign-invested banks,
LONDON: Prestigious British retailer Marks & “During the year we acted decisively to meet
accessing yuan capital and whose ability to absorb yuan
Spencer said yesterday that its annual net profit the challenges of the economic downturn, re-
support financial market deposits is constrained due
slumped nearly 40% and cut its dividend by a sponding quickly to the changing needs of our
development in the city, the to their limited (number of)
third due to an “uncertain economic outlook”. customers, managing costs tightly and protecting
M&S, an icon of the high street, said its net our balance sheet,” chairman Stuart Rose said.
profit tumbled 38% to £508 million (RM2.8 bil- “We sharpened our values without compro-

AmEx to cut 4,000 jobs lion) in its year to March 2009. Pre-tax profits
dived 37% from the previous year to £706 million
(RM3.9 billion) while group sales grew by just
mising on quality. We believe this, together with
our investment programme, is creating stronger
foundations for long-term growth.

in global restructuring 0.4% to £9.1 billion (RM50 billion).

NEW YORK: US credit card
giant American Express an-
nounced Monday that it was to
shed some 4,000 jobs as part
of a US$800 million (RM2.9 bil-
lion) restructuring of its global
operations.
The job cuts would lead to the
elimination of about 6% of the
company’s current worldwide
workforce, and it also planned
to scale back investments and
slash operating costs.
The move comes after
AmEx last month reported a
56% drop in quarterly earnings
from a year ago to US$443 mil-
lion (RM1.6 billion), or 31 cents
per share, amid rising write-offs
of credit card debt.
Amex said the job cuts,
which will go into effect this
year, would allow it to shave
US$175 million (RM630 million)
off its budget, while reducing
investments on marketing and
business development would
save another US$500 million
(RM1.8 billion).
The rest of the savings
would come from cutting
US$125 million (RM450 million)
of operational costs, chairman
and chief executive Kenneth
The clothes-to-food chain also cut its annual
shareholder dividend to 9.5 pence per share, the
“Given an uncertain economic outlook and in
order to provide a stronger foundation for mov-
ing forward, the board has taken the decision to
Chenualt said. first dividend cut since 2000. rebase the group’s dividend payment.” – AFP
“While we have remained
solidly profitable at a time when
some parts of the card industry
were incurring substantial loss-
es, we continue to be cautious
about the economic outlook,”
he said in a statement.
“We believe these efforts
will put us in a better position
to remain profitable and free
up some additional resources
that will be reinvested in the
business to make sure we can
take competitive advantage of
opportunities as the economy
begins to rebound.” – AFP

Coke steps up China juice campaign

SHANGHAI: Coca-Cola
launched a juice marketing
offensive in China yesterday,
making good on a vow to put
more power behind its brands
after Beijing shot down its pur-
chase of a local juice maker.
Hongkong pop star Eason
Chan performed live in the city
of Guangzhou, kicking off a new
campaign that the beverage
giant is hoping will raise the pro-
file of its Minute Maid brand in
the nation of 1.3 billion people.
The campaign is Coca-Cola’s
first major move in China since
the government, citing com-
petition concerns, blocked its
US$2.4 billion (RM8.6 billion) bid
for Huiyuan Juice in March.
It would have been the larg-
est ever takeover of a Chinese
company by a foreign firm, and
the rejection triggered fears
that China was raising barriers
to overseas companies.
Coca-Cola president and
CEO Muhtar Kent responded at
the time by saying the company
would “focus all our energies
and expertise on growing our
existing brands”.
Coca-Cola has big ambi-
tions for China and is planning
to invest US$2 billion (RM7.2
billion) in the country over the
next three years – compared
with just US$1.6 billion (RM5.8
billion) spent since 1979.
The campaign yesterday
launched a new grape and aloe
vera drink, one of the first prod-
ucts to come out of Coca-Cola’s
new research and development
centre in Shanghai.
Analysts predict China’s
beverage market, including
sparkling drinks, teas and juices,
is expected to continue growing
at more than 16% annually.
Minute Maid sales have
seen “strong double digit
growth” year-on-year since its
line of pulp juice drinks was
introduced in 2004, Coca-Cola
said, without providing detailed
figures. – AFP