theSun | TUESDAY OCTOBER 20 2009 17

business KLCI
STI
1,261.49
2,711.70
4.72
3.58
Nikkei
TSEC
10,236.51
7,751.32
21.05
36.22
Hang Seng 22,200.46 270.56 KOSPI 1,649.07 8.71
SCI 3,038.27 61.64 S&P/ASX200 4,792.80 43.60

KL market summary
OCTOBER 19, 2009
INDICES
FBMEMAS
CHANGE
8,097.87 -39.85
CI hits year’s new high
FBM-KLCI 1,202.08 -6.13 SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia closed adding that the active counters included plan-
INDUSTRIAL 2,627.11 -21.31 broadly higher yesterday, extending last tation, finance, industrial and technology.
CONSUMER PROD 363.14 -5.49 week’s gains and in line with the firmer Among the active plantation stocks were
INDUSTRIAL PROD 89.93 -0.43 performance on regional bourses amid rising KLK and IOI Corp with KLK rising by 10 sen to
CONSTRUCTION 230.64 -2.40 market optimism, dealers said. RM14.80 and IOI gaining two sen to RM5.46,
TRADING SERVICES 157.62 -0.55
FINANCE 9,945.48 -28.63
The FBM KLCI added 4.72 points or 0.376% pushing up the market.
PROPERTIES 780.36 -1.38 to close at 1,261.49, another new high for “Today’s follow-through buying was
PLANTATIONS 5,890.04 -20.09 the year. mainly in key heavyweights and lower liners
MINING 324.23 UNCH The dealers said regional markets such as and the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia kept
FBMSHA 8,271.22 -39.98 Shanghai Composite, Hongkong’s Hang Seng, the local bourse’s outlook firmly bullish,” said EXCHANGE RATES October 19, 2009
FBMACE 4,067.67 -2.77 Jakarta Composite, Singapore’s Straits Times, one of the dealers.
TECHNOLOGY 16.24 -0.12 Seoul Composite and Taiwan Weighted ended MIMB Investment said technical indica- Foreign currency Bank sell Bank buy Bank buy
TURNOVER VALUE on a positive note. tors remained bullish over the longer term TT/OD TT OD
Locally, the interest of investors was seen despite the choppy October post-festive 1 US DOLLAR 3.4190 3.3540 3.3440
1.334bil RM1.267bil
across almost the entire board, they said, mood. – Bernama
1 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR 3.1360 3.0410 3.0250
1 BRUNEI DOLLAR 2.4550 2.3940 2.3860
1 CANADIAN DOLLAR 3.2940 3.2120 3.2000

Malaysia’s interest rates

1 EURO 5.0830 4.9800 4.9600
1 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 2.5550 2.4430 2.4270
1 PAPUA N GUINEA KINA 1.4530 1.1900 1.1740
1 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 2.4545 2.3940 2.3860
1 STERLING POUND 5.5730 5.4590 5.4390
1 SWISS FRANC 3.3590 3.2770 3.2620
‘Arsenal 100 ARAB EMIRATES DIRHAM 94.7200 89.6900 89.4900

at appropriate level: Zeti won’t

under-
estimate
Alkmaar’
pg 31
100 BANGLADESH TAKA
100 CHINESE RENMINBI
100 DANISH KRONE
100 HONGKONG DOLLAR
100 INDIAN RUPEE
100 INDONESIAN RUPIAH
5.2000
N/A
70.4700
44.8900
7.6600
0.0377
4.7010
N/A
64.7100
42.5100
7.0400
0.0330
4.5010
N/A
64.5100
42.3100
6.8400
0.0280
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s interest domestic,” she explained. economic fundamentals. 100 JAPANESE YEN 3.7720 3.6790 3.6690
rates are supportive of the country’s She was speaking to reporters on “I want to emphasise that our ex- 100 PAKISTAN RUPEE 4.2100 3.9400 3.7400
economic recovery and remain at an the sidelines of the ADB-BNM-EC port sector has been resilient despite 100 PHILIPPINE PESO 7.3900 6.9500 6.7500
appropriate level, Bank Negara Ma- Joint Conference themed, “Beyond the appreciation of the ringgit,” she 100 QATAR RIYAL 95.3200 90.6700 90.4700
laysia Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar The Global Crisis: A New Asian said. 100 SAUDI RIYAL 92.5600 88.0400 87.8400
Aziz said yesterday. Growth Model?” She said the ringgit’s exchange rate
100 SRI LANKA RUPEE 3.0800 2.8200 2.6200
She said any decision on the rates Zeti also said that the private sector had previously appreciated by much
would only be announced after an- would be the main driver of growth more than the current level, touching 100 THAI BAHT 10.9700 9.2900 8.8900
other Monetary Policy Meeting later in the country once the government even 3.13 in 2008. Source: Malayan Banking Berhad/Bernama
this month. stimulus is gradually withdrawn. The ringgit depreciated against
“We see the interest rates now Asked if the ringgit should not be the US dollar at its opening Govt likely to remove or cut
as supporting borrowings and it has allowed to appreciate too much as yesterday morning to
not been a constraint to it. The factor economic growth could be affected, 3.3850/3890 from
Abdul Farid brokerage fees, says Kenanga
... excited
affecting borrowing is actually the she said the current level of the cur- 3.3690/3730 on Fri- at the KUALA LUMPUR: The government is likely to remove or
demand conditions, both external and rency actually reflected the country’s day. – Bernama prospects reduce minimum brokerage fees to boost the equity mar-
of the ket in the 2010 Budget, according to Kenanga Research.
bank’s Incentives will also be unveiled to promote efficient
Cam- fuel and related technology in the budget to be announced
on Friday, it said.
Maybank’s sixth Cambodian bodian
ope-
rations.
It will be tricky for the government which has projected
to cut 15% of its operating expenditure to maintain a
moderately high development spending, said Kenanga in
branch to boost growth a statement yesterday.
“If it’s serious about cutting the deficit it has to ei-
ther tackle the soaring operating expenditure or boost
by Eva Yeong Abdul Farid said despite the global eco- revenue,” it said. “Realistically, we expect the operating
newsdesk@thesundaily.com nomic slowdown, the Cambodian govern- expenditure to be reduced by no more than 5%, largely
ment announced recently that its foreign by way of reducing or restructuring subsidies which had
PETALING JAYA: Malayan Banking Bhd currency reserves have risen by more than ballooned to about 22% of total operating expenditure
(Maybank) expects its sixth branch in Cambo- 20% since the end of last year. from just 8.5% in 2007,” it added. – Bernama
dia - Maybank Olympic Branch - to help boost The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
its loans and deposits growth by 38% and 15% has said the global downturn may be bottom-
respectively by the end of June 2010. ing out and projected Cambodia’s GDP for
“Deposits and total assets grew by 27% 2010 at 4.25%.
each over the last three years and as the He also said the organic expansion of the
Cambodian economy gets back on a growth Cambodian operations is in line with May-
path, we are targeting our Olympic branch to bank Group’s strategy to further strengthen
contribute to earnings from its second year its regional footprint and achieve its vision
of operations,” said Maybank senior execu- to be the leading financial services group in
tive vice-president and head of international the region.
Abdul Farid Alias. Opened yesterday, Maybank Olympic
Abdul Farid said the new branch will tap Branch is located at the Olympic area, Phnom
into the growing opportunities in Cambodia Penh’s largest business centre dominated by
and also support its four other branches the city’s Olympic Stadium landmark.
located in the capital city. “This latest branch will offer a range of
“We are excited at the prospects of our Cam- business and retail facilities to cater to local
bodian operations in particular as well as our as well as Malaysian and Singaporean busi-
other international offices given the improving nesses with interests in the country,” said
economic outlook in the region. We remain Abdul Farid.
committed to Cambodia and believe our net- Maybank Cambodia began operations
work expansion will contribute to the overall in 1993 with its first branch in Kramoun
economic growth of the country,” he said. Sar, Phnom Penh. Its other branches are
“In this regard, we are looking to add an- in Teukhtla, Mao Tse Tung Boulevard and
other two more branches in Cambodia this Chbar Ampov in Phnom Penh as well as Siem
financial year,” he added. Reap.

Govt yet to receive highway takeover proposal

PUTRAJAYA: The government has not received
any proposal pertaining to the takeover of all
toll highways nationwide, Minister in the Prime
Minister’s Department, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed
Yakcop, said yesterday.
“We have not received any (proposal),” he
said after attending Hari Raya and Deepavali
celebrations organised by Public Private Part-
nership Unit-3PU, and launching the 3PU’s new
logo here.
According to reports, Asas Serba Sdn Bhd
had submitted two proposals to the govern-
ment in May and August this year and it had
estimated its acquisition to save the govern-
ment RM114 billion as at 2038.
It had also estimated the toll rates would
be reduced by 20% with the acquisition.
– Bernama