MARKET ROUNDUP (Source Bloomberg)

S&P 500 Snaps Six-Day Winning Streak As Growth Slows: as slower-than-forecast economic growth in Japan added to investor concern of a global slowdown. The S&P 500 slid 0.1 percent to 1,404.11. The Dow lost 0.3 percent to 13,169.43.
Trading volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was about 4.5 billion shares, the lowest level since July 3 when the market closed at 1 p.m. and about 31 percent lower than the threemonth average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

European Stocks Fall As Japanese Growth Wanes; as slowing economic growth in Japan offset increased demand at an Italian debt auction. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.3 percent, while Germany's DAX declined 0.5 percent and France's CAC 40 retreated 0.3 percent. Oil Falls A Second Day As U.S. Equities Decline: as Japan's economy grew more slowly than expected. The discount of New York futures to Brent widened to a four-month high. Crude for September delivery decreased 14 cents to settle at $92.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are down 6.2 percent this year.


CORPORATE NEWS

Coastal unit bags barge, vessel orders: To date, the group has some RM711 million worth of vessel sales orders awaiting delivery.

Handal upbeat on rising order book: The group recently witnessed a rising demand for its crane maintenance services just as its traditional oil and gas (O&G) customers of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and ExxonMobil renewed their contracts for the maintenance of their offshore cranes in Malaysia.

Btimes


MSM Q2 net profit lower at RM52.8mil: MSM said that the lower profit was due to higher cost of sales as a result of an increase in raw sugar prices.

Dialog Q4 earnings up 10.6%: The growth in revenue was mainly propelled by the acquisition of a fabrication and multidisciplined engineering subsidiary.

StarbIz


Source:Jupiter Securities Research 14 August 2012