theSun | THURSDAY JULY 9 2009 17

1,065.47  0.89
T 9,420.75 T
227.04
business KLCI
STI 2,259.77 T
12.49
Nikkei
TSEC 6,668.14 T
47.08
Hang Seng 17,721.07 141.20
T KOSPI 1,431.02  3.18
T
SCI 3,080.77  8.68
T S&P/ASX200 3,767.90  1.0
S

market summary
Bursa prices lower on Wall Street slump JULY 8, 2009
SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia ended Investors have been worried that the
lower yesterday following the overnight global economic recovery may take longer INDICES CHANGE
slump on Wall Street, but managed to re- than expected and this may inevitably dent FBMEMAS 7,162.89 -9.36
cover some earlier losses with eleventh hour demand for crude oil. FBM-KLCI 1,065.47 -0.89
buying in selective index-linked counters, They became more cautious when INDUSTRIAL 2,369.59 -2.31
said a dealer. US President Barrack Obama’s economic CONSUMER PROD 320.97 +0.02
INDUSTRIAL PROD 83.09 -0.06
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur adviser Laura Tyson said a second round CONSTRUCTION 202.31 -0.84
Composite Index (FBM KLCI), shed 0.89 of a of stimulus might be needed to boost the TRADING SERVICES 142.74 -0.06
point to 1,065.47 after opening 6.03 points country's economy, MIMB Investment said. FINANCE 8,531.27 +13.29
lower at 1,060.33. It had touched an intra- Decliners outnumbered advancers by PROPERTIES 684.08 -3.01
day low of 1,058.12. The absence of any 335 to 188 while 228 counters were un- PLANTATIONS 5,281.82 -47.20 EXCHANGE RATES July 8, 2009
fresh lead on the local and regional fronts changed, 481 untraded and 34 suspended. MINING 275.60 unch
was another factor causing the market to Among the stocks that bucked the FBMSHA 7,383.04 -16.57 Foreign currency Bank sell Bank buy Bank buy
remain bearish, said the dealer. trend were Bintulu Port which rose 30 sen FBM2BRD 4,671.84 -1.25
TECHNOLOGY 14.13 +0.08 TT/OD TT OD
“Sentiments in Wall Street were ham- to RM6.35, Dutch Lady and DiGi.Com both 1 US DOLLAR 3.5940 3.5290 3.5190
mered by the slumping crude oil price that of which added 30 sen each to RM11.00 TURNOVER VALUE
1 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR 2.8610 2.7360 2.7200
dragged the stock prices lower,” said MIMB and RM22.20, and British American Tobacco 672.184mil RM1.169bil
Investment in its research note. which jumped to RM45.00. – Bernama 1 BRUNEI DOLLAR 2.4650 2.4060 2.3980
1 CANADIAN DOLLAR 3.0890 3.0130 3.0010
1 EURO 5.0060 4.8850 4.8650
1 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 2.2860 2.1850 2.1690

China holds Rio Tinto exec as

1 PAPUA N GUINEA KINA 1.4860 1.2440 1.2280
1 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 2.4645 2.4060 2.3980
1 STERLING POUND 5.7930 5.6530 5.6330
1 SWISS FRANC 3.3030 3.2240 3.2090
100 ARAB EMIRATES DIRHAM 99.6000 94.3400 94.1400
100 BANGLADESH TAKA 5.5200 5.2000 5.0000

spy, iron ore deal said done 100 CHINESE RENMINBI

100 DANISH KRONE
100 HONGKONG DOLLAR
100 INDIAN RUPEE
100 INDONESIAN RUPIAH
100 JAPANESE YEN
69.2500
47.2000
7.6600
0.0368
3.8120
- N/A
63.5900
44.7100
7.0400
0.0314
3.7200
N/A
63.3900
44.5100
6.8400
0.0264
3.7100
BEIJING/PERTH: Rio Tinto ness News reported yesterday sociation industry body, said. stance on the initial deal, and 100 NEW TAIWAN DOLLAR N/A N/A N/A
Ltd’s top iron ore negotiator is that Chinese mills had agreed The Shanghai-based an economic recovery lifted
being held by Chinese authori- to new iron ore prices for six newspaper, backed by a local spot market prices above new 100 NORWEGIAN KRONE 56.7300 52.0700 51.8700
ties on suspicion of espionage months instead of the usual government agency, said China contract levels, leaving China 100 PAKISTAN RUPEE 4.5400 4.2100 4.0100
and stealing state secrets, Aus- one-year deal, and had already had agreed to pay US$0.97 per with little leverage. 100 PHILIPPINE PESO 7.6200 7.1600 6.9600
tralia’s foreign minister said begun negotiating on the next dry metric tonne unit for Pilbara “It’s a report but it’s certainly 100 QATAR RIYAL 100.2400 95.3500 9 5.1500
yesterday. six-month phase. blend fines and US$1.12 per the deal that we expect to be 100 SAUDI RIYAL 97.3400 92.5900 92.3900
The details about the de- The deal, which could not be dmtu for Pilbara Blend lump, done. It always seemed likely 100 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND 46.0500 42.1600 41.9600
tention of Stern Hu, as well immediately confirmed, would but only for April through that the outcome would be no
as three other Rio employees, conclude some nine months of October. It said negotiations change from Japanese settle- 100 SRI LANKA RUPEE 3.2300 2.9700 2.7700
emerged just as a Shanghai tense negotiations that threat- were already under way for the ment,” said Mark Pervan, a 100 SWEDISH KRONA 46.8100 42.5600 42.3600
paper reported Chinese steel ened to scupper the decades-old following period. senior commodities analyst at 100 THAI BAHT 11.2900 9.5700 9.1700
mills have finally given in on annual pricing ritual and would But the newspaper said its ANZ. Source: Malayan Banking/Bernama
annual iron ore prices, agreeing frustrate China’s efforts to wield sources could not say which of “The mills have started to
the same 33% cut other Asian more clout on global commod- the big iron ore suppliers had pre-empt this move; Baosteel
steelmakers set earlier, but for
six months instead of a year.
ity markets, even where it is the
dominant buyer, such as iron
signed the deal.
A 33% cut would be in
kept its (steel) prices on hold
for its main products so they HK financiers guilty
It was unclear whether there ore. line with what analysts have were obviously preparing for
was any relationship between
the two events, but the detention
Several Chinese steel of-
ficials Reuters contacted yes-
been expecting as Rio Tinto
showed no inclination to relax
this outcome.” – Reuters of insider dealing
follows a period of increasingly terday said they were unaware its “take it or leave it” HONGKONG: A former investment banker at
tense relations between the two of any settlement, though two regional brokerage CLSA and an ex-fund manager
vast trading partners, with iron sources not di- Rio Tinto Limited’s have pleaded guilty to charges of insider dealing,
ore price negotiations going rectly involved representative the city’s financial watchdog said yesterday.
down to the wire and Rio snub- in the discus- office in Shanghai. The conviction, the eighth made by the Securities
bing a planned US$19.5 billion sions said they and Futures Commission (SFC) for insider trading
(RM69.5 billion) investment by had heard of a over the past 12 months, has underscored the
Chinalco last month. possible agree- regulator’s bid to toughen enforcement measures
Australian Foreign Minister ment, but could against market malpractice.
Stephen Smith said Hu had not confirm it. In a statement late Tuesday, the SFC said that
been detained on suspicion of “All news Allen Lam, a former investment banking director
espionage and stealing state should be subject at Hongkong-based CLSA, and Ryan Fong, an ex-
secrets, adding there was no to the statement hedge fund manager at HSZ Ltd, pleaded guilty at
evidence for drawing any link from CISA and the District Court to two charges involving shares
between his detention and any Baosteel. I have in Media Partners International Holdings.
commercial matters concern- nothing to say The regulator said Lam tipped off Fong in 2005
ing Rio such as the collapsed about the news,” that a buyer would soon be acquiring a controlling
Rio/Chinalco deal. Chen Xianwen, stake in Media Partners.
Smith also said he was very head of the market CLSA acted as the financial adviser for the buyer
surprised by the detention and research depart- in the takeover at the time, although Lam was not
reasons for it. ment at the China directly involved in the deal, it said.
Separately, the China Busi- Iron and Steel As- Fong then went about accumulating 10.6 mil-
REUTERSPIX
lion Media Partner shares for himself and a HSZ
fund he was authorised to trade for, at the price of

Las Vegas Sands plans to restart Macau projects
SINGAPORE: Las Vegas Sands
is aiming to restart its stalled
projects in Macau before the end
of the year, company chairman
and gaming tycoon Sheldon Adel-
son said yesterday.
Adelson said various options
are being explored to raise about
US$3.5 billion (RM12.5 billion), in-
cluding US$2 billion (RM7.1 billion)
needed to complete the projects
in the Chinese territory.
These options include an
initial public offering (IPO) or sale
of some of the company’s Macau
assets, including condominiums
and shopping malls. The fund-
raising exercise is expected to be
completed in September, he said.
“We are shooting for a restart
of the Macau project before the
end of this year,” he said.
“We anticipate restarting (lots)
5 and 6 and finishing that in about
a year from the time we start.”
Lots 5 and 6 are a part of Las
Vegas Sands’ ambitious, US$12-
billion building plan on Macau’s
Cotai Strip that will include a col-
lective 20,000 hotel rooms upon
completion.
The Nevada firm, which has
seen its fortunes affected by
the global credit crunch, had
announced in November that
work on Lots 5 and 6 would be
temporarily stopped until financial
market conditions improved.
Adelson was in Singapore to
attend ceremonies marking the
completion of three 55-storey
hotel towers that will form part of
its large Singapore casino devel-
opment called Marina Bay Sands.
He said the opening of Marina
Bay Sands, Singapore’s first ca-
sino, has been put back by a few
months to either January or Febru-
ary due to shortages of labour and
materials.
At least 50% of the total gross
floor area, including the key
revenue drivers like the hotels,
restaurants and the casino, should
be operational at the initial phase
of the opening, he said.
The complex had been origi-
nally slotted to welcome its first
visitors by the end of this year.
“The opening date we seri-
ously anticipate will be in January
or February,” Adelson said.
“We can’t control the flow of
sand to make concrete with, we
can’t control the availability of
steel ... and we can’t control the
availability of labour due to other
projects that are in the market.”
Adelson yesterday put the
total cost of the Marina Bay Sands
development at S$8 billion.
Marina Bay Sands is Singa-
pore’s first casino project to be
awarded, in 2006. As well as
gaming, the complex will include
hotel, convention, luxury retail and
performing arts facilities.
A second casino, Resorts World
at Sentosa, is scheduled to open
in phases also starting early 2010
and will feature the world’s biggest
oceanarium with 700,000 fish and
a Universal Studios theme park.
Singapore in 2005 gave the
approval for casinos in a bid to
draw more visitors, whose main
attractions are shopping, dining,
night-life and animal parks. – AFP
HK$0.60-0.83 (RM0.28-0.39) a share, the SFC said.
The takeover was announced in September
2005 and the share price of Media Partners jumped
dramatically.
Fong sold his shares at HK$1.09-1.10 a share,
making a profit of HK$3.39 million (RM1.544 mil-
lion) for the HSZ fund and HK$1.02 million for
himself, the SFC said.
The two stayed in contact via email, according
to the regulator, using a code, “the French car,” to
refer to the deal.
Judge Eddie Yip remanded the two in custody
on Tuesday, pending sentencing on July 13.
Despite Hongkong’s role as a financial hub with
one of the most liquid stock markets in the region,
regulators here have been criticised in the past for
lax enforcement of the city’s securities laws.
But over the past year, the SFC has gone on the
offensive by aggressively pursuing insider trading
and other market abuses.
In May, the SFC won one of its biggest victories
to date when a Hongkong court supported the
regulator’s request to block the privatisation of
telecom giant PCCW on vote-rigging allegations.
– AFP