theSun | WEDNESDAY JULY 8 2009 15

S
 0.53 T
33.08
business KLCI
STI
1,066.36
2,272.26 S
33.66
Nikkei
TSEC
9,647.97
6,715.22 S
65.31
Hang Seng 17,862.27 T
223.99 KOSPI 1,434.20 S
 5.26
SCI 3,089.45 T
36.30 S&P/ASX200 3,766.9 T
 16.8

market summary
Bursa shares end mixed, FBM KLCI up JULY 7, 2009
SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia ended with PCPP Operating Company Sdn Bhd had
mixed yesterday but buying in selective been terminated. PCCP is 40% owned by INDICES CHANGE
heavyweights pushed the key FBM KLCI Petronas Carigali. FBMEMAS 7,172.25 +15.12
Index slightly higher in an otherwise slug- Among the actives, Talam Corp-RCPS FBM-KLCI 1,066.36 +0.53
gish trade, dealers say. edged up half a sen 7.5 sen, KNM Group INDUSTRIAL 2,371.90 +5.37
The FBM KLCI added 0.53 of a point to inched up one sen to 76 sen, Talam Corp CONSUMER PROD 320.95 -0.10
close at 1,066.36. It had opened unchanged was flat at 8.5 sen, UEM Land jumped two INDUSTRIAL PROD 83.15 +0.64
CONSTRUCTION 203.15 +2.16
at 1,065.83. sen to RM1.39 and Time Engineering perked
TRADING SERVICES 142.80 +0.73
Advancers led decliners by 281 to 241 one sen to 27.5 sen. Of the heavyweights, FINANCE 8,517.98 -4.97
while 218 counters were unchanged, 489 Sime Darby added five sen to RM7.25 while PROPERTIES 687.09 +2.35
untraded and 34 others suspended. Maybank, Tenaga Nasional, IOI Corp and PLANTATION 5,329.02 -7.29 EXCHANGE RATES July 7, 2009
Total volume shed to 586,232 million Genting were all flat at RM5.65, RM7.70, MINING 275.60 +2.03
shares worth RM752,770 million from RM4.66 and RM5.80 respectively. Public FBMSHA 7,399.61 +26.60 Foreign currency Bank sell Bank buy Bank buy
762.605 million shares worth RM844.032 Bank added 10 sen to RM9.20. FBM2BRD 4,673.09 -3.61
TECHNOLOGY 14.05 +0.15 TT/OD TT OD
million on Monday. The Main Board volume shed to 515.227
1 US DOLLAR 3.5730 3.5080 3.4980
UMW Holdings slipped 15 sen to RM5.85 million shares valued at RM731.892 million TURNOVER VALUE
after announcing that the RM602.78 million from 670.424 million shares valued at 1 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR 2.8840 2.7580 2.7420
586,232mil RM752,770mil
contract for its Naga 2 jack-up drilling rig RM820.998 million on Monday. – Bernama 1 BRUNEI DOLLAR 2.4620 2.4010 2.3930
1 CANADIAN DOLLAR 3.0900 3.0150 3.0030
1 EURO 5.0100 4.8890 4.8690
1 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 2.3050 2.2030 2.1870

World Bank rolls out

1 PAPUA N GUINEA KINA 1.4730 1.2320 1.2160
1 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 2.4615 2.4010 2.3930
1 STERLING POUND 5.8320 5.6900 5.6700
1 SWISS FRANC 3.3040 3.2230 3.2080
100 ARAB EMIRATES DIRHAM 99.0200 93.7800 93.5800
100 BANGLADESH TAKA 5.5200 5.2000 5.0000

RM32bil in financing
Seeking 100 CHINESE RENMINBI 53.8000 N/A N/A
Asia’s 100 DANISH KRONE 69.2800 63.6600 63.4600
biggest 100 HONGKONG DOLLAR 46.9300 44.4400 44.2400
loser 100 INDIAN RUPEE 7.6100 6.9900 6.7900
pg 22 100 INDONESIAN RUPIAH 0.0366 0.0314 0.0264
100 JAPANESE YEN 3.7600 3.6690 3.6590
BANGKOK: The World Bank Group We have adjusted our that of other regions, the poor and the 100 NEW TAIWAN DOLLAR N/A N/A N/A
responded quickly to the impact of glo- vulnerable have been deeply affected
bal financial crisis on the East Asia and
regional strategy and by the crisis, said World Bank Group 100 NORWEGIAN KRONE 57.1100 52.4300 52.2300
Pacific region with more than US$9 increased resources for the vice-president for the East Asia and 100 PAKISTAN RUPEE 4.5200 4.1800 3.9800
billion (RM32 billion) in financing for region to help countries Pacific region James W Adams. 100 PHILIPPINE PESO 7.5700 7.1200 6.9200
development in the past one year. weather the economic In this region, more than 10 million 100 QATAR RIYAL 99.6600 94.8000 94.6000
The bank said in a report yesterday crisis and ensure priority people who would otherwise have 100 SAUDI RIYAL 96.7600 92.0400 91.8400
that this represented a significant in- moved out of poverty are expected
crease on the amount of financing the programmes remain on track. to remain below the poverty line, he
100 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND 46.4700 42.7500 42.5500
previous year, adding it also ramped This includes investments said. 100 SRI LANKA RUPEE 3.2100 2.9500 2.7500
up its technical help to governments in infrastructure, education, "We have adjusted our regional 100 SWEDISH KRONA 47.4100 43.1200 42.9200
in the region to address the social and health, agriculture, and social strategy and increased resources for 100 THAI BAHT 11.2400 9.5200 9.1200
economic impacts of the crisis. the region to help countries weather Source: Malayan Banking/Bernama
The World Bank Group's Inter-
safety nets." the economic crisis and ensure prior-
national Bank for Reconstruction ity programmes remain on track. This
and Development (IBRD) which eral financing for the private sector includes investments in infrastructure, Passenger traffic drops at Air France-KLM
provides financing, risk manage- in the developing world, the World education, health, agriculture, and
ment products and other financial Bank's private sector arm – the Inter- social safety nets," he said. PARIS: Air France-KLM, Europe’s 6.4 million passengers in June.
services to middle-income countries, national Finance Corporation (IFC) The World Bank said many coun- biggest airline, which has already The airline also said however
increased its aid to US$6.9 billion – also increased its support to help tries in the region were just beginning been forced to cut operations that the decline in cargo traffic
(RM25 billion), up from US$2.7 bil- boost private sector-led recovery. to recover from the food and fuel crisis in the economic crisis, saw pas- had stabilised, edging down only
lion (RM 9.6 billion) the previous year. IFC generated US$1.1 billion of of 2008 when the global financial senger traffic fall 6.4% in June, the 0.4% in the course of the month.
The International Development new business in 45 projects, seven of crisis hit. company said yesterday. Franco-Dutch Air France-KLM
Association (IDA) which provides these are located in conflict-affected The Group responded by increas- The biggest drop came in Asia, lost €814 million (RM3.9 billion)
interest-free credits and grants to the countries and regions, while one ing its support – in loans, grants, equity where numbers fell 10.8%, while in the first three months of the
lowest-income countries, provided in every five projects has a climate investments and guarantees – to help traffic in Africa and the Middle year – its first loss since the 2003
US$1.2 billion in support in the fiscal change component. countries and private-sector firms East dropped 0.2%. The European merger of Air France and KLM
year 2009 that ended June 30, 2009. Although growth in East Asia and deal with the devastating effects of the network saw a 6.8% decline. – and it has announced plans to
As the largest provider of multilat- Pacific still compares favourably with economic meltdown. – Bernama Air France-KLM said it carried cut 2,700 jobs. – AFP

Australia holds rates steady,

upbeat on global recovery
SYDNEY: Australia’s central
bank left interest rates on
hold at a 49-year low of 3%
yesterday and gave an upbeat
assessment of the global
outlook, while analysts saw
it as a vote for the domestic
economy.
The Reserve Bank of Aus-
tralia (RBA) said the world
economy appeared to be
“stabilising” as it kept rates,
slashed from 7.25% since
September, on hold for the
third straight month.
“The global economy
is stabilising, after a sharp
contraction in demand dur-
ing the December and March
quarters,” governor Glenn
Stevens said in a statement.
“Downside risks to the
outlook have diminished,
with conditions in global
financial markets improv-
ing this year and action to
strengthen balance sheets
of key financial institutions
under way.”
Stevens added that growth
in key market China had
“strengthened considerably”
and that Australia’s slump
had not been as deep as
originally feared.
But he left the door open
for further cuts, caution-
ing that credit conditions
remained tight and the inter-
national outlook was mixed.
“The (Reserve Bank)
Board’s view is that the
outlook for inflation allows
some scope for further eas-
ing of monetary policy, if
needed,” he said.
Australia has escaped the
worst downturn since the
Great Depression lightly,
and last month became the
only major Western nation to
avoid a technical recession.
But mixed data, including
the biggest trade deficit in a
year, and the poor perform-
ance of key trade partners
has dampened optimism.
“There is tentative
evidence the US economy is
approaching a turning point,
but conditions in Europe are
still weakening,” Stevens
said.
“While the considerable
economic policy stimulus
in train around the world
should support recovery, it is
likely to be slow at first. For
it to be durable, continued
progress in restoring balance
sheets is essential.”
Analysts said the bank’s
widely expected decision
showed confidence in the
Australian economy.
“It seems that the global
economy is showing signs of
stability, surely the downside
risks continue to diminish,”
said CommSec economist
Savanth Sebastian.
“We saw them keep rates
on hold over the past few
months as a sign of confi-
dence and I think they’re
trying to maintain that.”
However, economists said
Australia was far from rais-
ing rates and could cut them
again if unemployment,
tipped to rise to 5.9% this
week, continues to worsen.
“There ain’t no tighten-
ings out there,” ANZ Bank’s
Warren Hogan told Dow
Jones Newswires. – AFP