MARKET ROUNDUP (Source Bloomberg)

U.S. Stocks Rise as Retail Sales, Citigroup Top Estimates; as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX) rebounded from its biggest weekly drop in four months, after American retail sales and Citigroup (C) Inc.'s earnings topped estimates. The S&P 500 climbed 0.8 percent to 1,440.13 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) rose 95.38 points, or 0.7 percent, to 13,424.23. About 5.9 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 2 percent below the three-month average.

European Stocks Rise Amid M&A Deals; Orkla, Dougles Gain; as a U.S. report showed retail sales rose more than forecast in September. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent, France's CAC 40 climbed 0.9 percent, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.4 percent.

Oil Trades Near Three-Day Low; Brent Premium at Widest in a Year- before a report that may show U.S. stockpiles climbed a second week. Crude for November delivery fell 23 cents to $91.62 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:25 a.m. Sydney time. The contract yesterday closed at $91.85, the lowest settlement since Oct. 10. Prices are down 7.3 percent this year.


CORPORATE NEWS

Palm oil exports expected to fall; Plantation Industries and Commo-dities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok believes exports will fall although the final figure will also depend on how the market reacts in the next two months. Considering the crude palm oil (CPO) duty-free shipment quota will be abolished come January 2013, there is a possibility that some importers may choose to increase imports before the year ends.

SAAG shares down on suspension of payments to its creditors; shares plunged 70% following news it had suspended payments to creditors ahead of the restructuring of its borrowings.SAAG fell 3.5 sen to close at 1.5 sen. It was the most actively traded stock yesterday with 185.113 million shares changing hands.It was reported that the group expected to return to profitability in 2015 upon completion of its debt-restructuring scheme.

StarbIz

Tenaga in Indonesian coal-fired power plant venture; has signed a joint development agreement with PT PLN, the Indonesia state-owned utility company and PT Bukit Asam, a coal producer, on the development of a coal-fired power plant project, a coal mine project and a high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) interconnection project.

DRB-HICOM frontrunner for MRT track job; is tipped to win this week a contract worth between RM800 million and RM900 million to lay railway tracks for the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MY Rapid Transit (SBK MRT) project, people familiar with the matter said. Business Times understands that the contract is part of several jobs worth more than RM1.2 billion that Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) will be awarding soon.

Btimes

Source:Jupiter Securities Research, 16 October 2012