MO R N I N G C O F F E E Monday, April 23, 2012


U.S. and European market roundup
Stocks mostly rose on Friday, led by solid earnings from McDonald's, General Electric and Microsoft, but declines in banks and technology shares pulled indexes from their day's highs. The Nasdaq Composite fell as SanDisk Corp led a drop in semiconductor shares with an 11.3% slide after its second revenue warning in as many quarters. DJIA rose 0.50%, S&P500 gained 0.12% and Nasdaq dropped 0.24%.

U.S. crude futures rose for the first time in three days on Friday, lifted by better-than-expected data on German business sentiment. NYMEX, crude for May delivery expired and settled at $103.05/brl. NYMEX June crude closed at $103.88, up $1.16. - Reuters

European stocks finished higher on Friday, with banks gaining ground after a surprise rise in a German business climate index. German DAX30 rose 1.2%. France CAC40 added 0.5%, buoyed by solid gains for banks. Soci''t'' G''n''rale SA rose 3.5%. French politics will also be on investors' mind over the weekend as the country heads into its first rounds of presidential elections. FTSE100 added 0.5%. ' MarketWatch

Macro News
CPI up moderately on food and non-food items ' within expectations. The CPI for the period January to
March this year increased by 2.3% to 104.5 compared with that of 102.2 in the same period last year. -StarBiz

Dry Shipping Recovers. Baltic Dry Index (BDI) strengthens as demad pick up. BDI stood at 1,028 points on April 19 after it passed 1,000 points on April 18. This was the first time the BDI passed 1,000 points since Jannuary 16. BDI has increased 28% from its lowest level point in six months at 648 points. -StarBiz

Corporate News

Naim-KPJ JV Company to invest RM70mil in private hospital in Miri. The project will be undertaken by a 30:70 JV company between Naim's wholly-owned subisidary, Naim Land Sdn Bhd (NLSB), and KPJ's wholly-owned unit, Kumpulan Perubatan (Johor) Sdn Bhd (KPJSB).-StarBiz
PPA extension offers soon? The first generation independent power producers (IPPs) will be receiving
formal documents for the extension of their power purchase agreements (PPAs). The IPPs under the firstgeneration PPAs are YTL Power International Bhd; Segari Energy Ventures Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of Malakoff); Port Dickson Power of the Sime Darby group; Powertek Bhd and Genting Sanyen Power Sdn Bhd. -StarBiz

DRB-Hicom not disposing of Lotus group. Statement released on Saturday, it said it had not reached
a decision to sell Lotus, and did not know the source of speculation about selling it to China-based automobile group Youngman. -StarBiz

Tambun Indah in RM50mil school Project. The firm is developing Straits International School Seberang Prai Campus in Pearl City, Penang. The Campus is due to be completed in 2014. -Sunbiz

Cycle & Carriage profit up on Lowe Motors' acquisition. Mercedes-Benz distributor Cycle & Carriage Bintang Bhd has upped its net profit by 6.76% for the first quarter ended March 31 to RM8.37mil from RM7.84mil in the same period last year, boosted partly by its acquisition of Lowe Motors Sdn Bhd in May 2011. -StarBiz

EPF working on the master plan for 926ha RRI land. The 1,215ha Rubber Research Institute (RRI) Malaysia land in Sungai Buloh, is now controlled by Kwasa Land Sdn Bhd. Besides the development led by Kwasa, the original owner of the land, RRI, would remain at the same location.-StarBiz

Terengganu drops Petronas suit, over it unpaid royalty payments amounting to several billion ringgit. The out-ofcourt settlement will end more than 11-years of legal wrangling. -FinancialDaily

Source:Jupiter Securities Research 23 April 2012