MARKET ROUNDUP (Source Bloomberg)

U.S. Stocks Rally as Fed Announces Stimulus Measures: sending the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to its highest level since 2007, as the Federal Reserve said it will buy mortgagebacked securities to bolster the economy. The S&P 500 rallied
1.6 percent to 1,459.99 at 4 p.m. in New York, rising for a third straight day and closing at the highest level since Dec. 31, 2007. The Dow Jones Industrial Averagerose 206.51 points, or 1.6 percent, to 13,539.86. More than 8.1 billion shares traded hands in the U.S. today, the most since June and 35 percent above the three-month average.

The Fed said it will expand its holdings of long-term securities with open-ended purchases of $40 billion of mortgage debt a month. The FOMC also said it would probably hold the federal funds rate near zero 'at least through mid-2015. The central bank will continue its purchases of mortgage-backed securities and undertake other asset purchases if the outlook for the labor market doesn't improve substantially, the Federal Open Market Committee said today in a statement at the end of its two-day meeting in Washington.

European Stocks Fall From 14 Month-High; as investors awaited a Federal Reserve decision on further stimulus measures. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.7 percent, while Germany's DAX lost 0.5 percent. France's CAC 40 slid 1.2 percent.

Oil Trades Near Four-Month High on Stimulus Plan, Middle East: on speculation economic stimulus measures announced by the U.S. will boost fuel demand and concern unrest in the Middle East and North Africa will disrupt supplies. Oil for October delivery was at $98.18 a barrel, down 13 cents, in
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:50 a.m. Sydney time. The contract yesterday gained 1.3 percent to $98.31, the highest close since May 4. Prices are 1.8 percent higher this week and down 0.7 percent this year.

CORPORATE NEWS

TH Plantations to issue RM1.5b sukuk with 15-year tenure: Funds raised from the exercise will go towards redeeming TH Plantation's commodity term financing facilities, financing capital expenditure needs and other corporate expenses.TH Plantations saw its net profit drop 39 per cent in the first half of the year due
to lower production and lower selling prices for crude palm oil (CPO), in line with the lower year-on-year results reported by most plantation companies.

Bank Islam plans RM1b sukuk to build war chest: plans to raise RM1 billion through the sale of Islamic bonds as it looks to build a war chest for possible banking acquisitions in the region. A source said proceeds from the subordinated sukuk, which is expected to be issued by the year end, will also be used for
working capital.

Btimes

Malaysia plans to lure storage operators: The FT quoted Malaysia Petroleum Resources Corp (MPRC) executive director Syahrilazli Mahammad as saying Malaysia was embarking on an aggressive plan to attract oilstorage operators by offering zero tax rates as an incentive for companies to build millions of barrels of storage capacity in Johor.

Fed bets big in new push to rescue U.S. economy: The central bank's decision to tie its controversial bond buying directly to economic conditions was an unprecedented step that marked a big escalation in its efforts to drive U.S.
unemployment lower.

StarbIz

Source:Jupiter Securities Research 14 September 2012