MARKET ROUNDUP (Source Bloomberg)

U.S. Stocks Decline As Fed Fails To Bolster Confidence: as the Federal Reserve's pledge to provide additional support for the economy disappointed investors anticipating a more definitive sign of further monetary easing. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 0.3 percent to 1,375.32. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 37.62 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,971.06. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 7.4 billion shares, 10 percent above the three-month average.

European Stocks Gain Amid Speculation Of Central Bank Aid: as speculation central banks will take further steps to support the economic recovery outweighed the biggest contraction in U.K. manufacturing for three years. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 (UKX) gained 1.4 percent while Germany's DAX slipped 0.3 percent.

Oil Rises After U.S. Supplies Tumble Most In Seven Months: and the Federal Reserve said it may take steps to boost the economy. Crude oil for September delivery rose 85 cents to settle at $88.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. Prices are down 10 percent this year.

CORPORATE NEWS

United Plantations, Oleon invest US$32m in plant: to put up a new plant to produce food emulsifiers in Pulau Indah, Klang. Oleon NV is Europe's largest oleochemical group with total capacity of 500,000 tonnes a year of fatty acids, esters and dimers production. It is a member of the French oilseed financial
group Sofiprot''ol.

Major MRCB-Nusa deal in the works? : Nusa Gapurna previously sold its 60 per cent interest in Lot 348 Sentral to MRCB. Lot 348 Sentral is part of MRCB's KL Sentral transport hub in Brickfields here. EPF has a 42.2 per cent interest in
MRCB and 40 per cent in Nusa Gapurna. The rest of Nusa Gapurna is owned by Gapurna Sdn Bhd, controlled by Datuk Mohd Salim Fateh Din and his associates.Nusa Gapurna's prime asset is the 16ha land behind PJ Hilton in Petaling Jaya,where the construction of PJ Sentral Garden City will start next year.

Btimes

KKB Engineering eyes lucrative smelting plant contract in Bintulu: which secured a RM171mil contract from Pertama Ferroalloys Sdn Bhd on Tuesday, is setting its eyes next on a lucrative contract to be dished out by OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd for the construction of a manganese and ferrosilicon alloy smelting plant in Samalaju Industrial Park, Bintulu. OM Sarawak, a 80:20 joint venture between Australia-based OM Holdings Ltd (OMH) and Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMSB), expects capital expenditure (capex) of US$592mil (RM1.86bil) for the smelting project. KKB is an associate company of CMSB.

CPO export quota plan explained: The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) has reassured palm oil industry players that the latest two million tonnes increase in the duty-free crude palm oil (CPO) export quota is only a temporary measure aimed at stock management and ensuring the renumerative prices for local palm oil producers. For this year, the ministry said CPO production was forecasted at 18.5 million tonnes and the CPO duty free quota of five million tonnes accounting for 27% of total domestic CPO production.

StarbIz


Source:Jupiter Securities Research 02 August 2012