MARKET ROUNDUP (Source Bloomberg)

S&P 500 Has Longest Drop Since July Amid Europe Concern; sending the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to its longest retreat since July, as concern grew Europe's debt crisis is worsening. The S&P 500 slid 0.6 percent to 1,433.32 in New York. The benchmark index is down 1.9 percent over five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 44.04 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,413.51 today. Almost 6.4 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 6.3 percent higher than the three month average.

European Stocks Drop Most Since July Before Spain Budget; as Spain prepared to present its budget and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said the third round of bond buying may fail to stimulate growth. France's CAC 40 tumbled 2.8 percent and Germany's DAX slid 2 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 1.6 percent.

Oil Trades Near Eight-Week Low on Weaker Demand, European Crisis; after U.S. fuel demand slipped to the weakest since April amid concern the European debt crisis will worsen and derail the global economy. Oil for November delivery was at $90.14 a barrel, up 16 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:22 a.m. Sydney time. The contract yesterday fell $1.39 to $89.98, the lowest close since Aug. 2. Prices are up 6.1 percent this quarter and down 8.8 percent this year.


CORPORATE NEWS

Ireka eyes new MRT jobs; also plans property projects worth RM1.9bil; Recently, the company was awarded a RM268.6mil job by UEM Land Bhd to construct a residential and commercial property development in Nusajaya, Johor.Its order book currently stands at RM745mil, of which about RM400mil is outstanding, and the replenishment of the order book will remain the group's priority for this financial year.

IJM gives rationale for buying Scomi stake, says selldown of shares is overreation; proposed acquisition of a stake in Scomi would give IJM a 'good entry point into a new sector that has a lot of growth potential'. IJM said it was also looking at tapping into Scomi's logistics engineering business to complement its construction and civil engineering capabilities.

StarbIz


AirAsia open to talks with Malindo Airways; AirAsia has had a virtually uninterrupted domination over Malaysia's air space since it started operations in 2011. Fernandes now seems to have zeroed in on Malindo Airways as a potential rival which could give Asia's top budget carrier a run for its money. That seems possible, as Malindo Airways plans to offer flights within Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as to Thailand, China, India, Japan and Australia.

SILK buys 2 vessels from Muhibbah for RM240.6m; through subsidiary Jasa Merin Sdn Bhd, has bought two vessels for a combined RM240.6 million.The anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels were bought for RM120.3 million each from Muhibbah Engineering (M) Bhd. The acquisitions will be funded by internally generated funds and bank borrowings, SILK said in a statement yesterday.Deliveries are expected to be made by December this year, it added.

Btimes

Source:Jupiter Securities Research, 27 September 2012