MARKET ROUNDUP (Source Bloomberg)

U.S. Stocks Gain As Bernanke Says Fed Prepared To Act: as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told senators the central bank is prepared to act to boost growth if the labor market doesn't improve. The S&P 500 added 0.7 percent to 1,363.67 after losing as much as 0.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 78.33 points, 0.6 percent, to 12,805.54. Trading of S&P 500 stocks was 4.6 percent below the average level at this time of day over the past three months.

European Stocks Drop As Bernanke Gives No Stimulus Detail: as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's testimony to Congress disappointed investors looking for him to signal fresh stimulus measures. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined
0.6 percent and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.1 percent. Germany's DAX rose 0.2 percent.

Oil Advances In New York, Reversing Earlier 1.2% Decline: on speculation that inventories fell and as a report showed U.S.industrial production increased in June. Crude for August delivery increased 79 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $89.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement
since May 29. Prices have declined 9.7 percent this year. The five-day streak of gains is the longest since April 27.

CORPORATE NEWS

Ingress allots RM37.5m for capex in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia: the capex for Indonesia will be utilised to supply auto components mainly to Honda Freed, General Motors and Daihatsu in the neighboring country, which is seeing an influx of automakers, especially the Japanese, setting up bases or expanding their businesses. The automotive-parts supplier is already building a new factory in Indonesia, slated for completion by the end of the month, which will double its annual capacity to 160,000 vehicle sets from 80,000 currently.

Top Glove to acquire GMP Medicare for RM24m: the
acquisition is in line with the group's expansion plan of
increasing its global market share, while GMP Medicare, which is
involved in the manufacturing and sale of rubber gloves, is
expected to benefit from the economies of scale of the group's
established marketing and procurement network and contribute
to the profitability of the group going forward.

SunBiz

MASholidays offering holiday packages to Nepal: This is in conjunction with the launch of its thrice weekly B737-800 services between Kuala Lumpur and Nepal's capital city, Kathmandu, effective September 1. For the inaugural flight,
MASholidays is also offering a four-day three-night holiday package, including a tour of the three fabled cities of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. The package covers visits to sites like the Swaybhunath Temple, Pasupatinath Temple and Boudhnath Temple, as well as famous locations like the Patan Durbar Square in the Nepalese capital.

Btimes

SILK unit wins ExxonMobil job: Jasa Merin (M) Sdn Bhd has won a RM35mil contract from ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc for two anchor-handling tug-supply vessels. The 18-month contracts were expected to take effect
this month, with an extension option exercisable by ExxonMobil for 12 months.

Boustead unit upbeat on new product: expects its newly launched SynGard 8000 engine oil to boost sales of its fully synthetic engine oil business. The SynGard 8000, which retails at RM188, was developed with modern technology to formulate a high quality, better performance, fully synthetic proprietary engine lubricant that promised up to five times greater protection for gasoline engines.


StraBiz


Source:Jupiter Securities Research 18 July 2012