Lower after Wall Street's slump, high oil prices

Malaysian shares outlook - Lower after Wall Street's slump, high oil prices
02/11/2007 08:29:00
KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - Malaysian shares are expected to open lower
Friday as a big slump on Wall Street and stubbornly high oil prices are likely
to dent sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 360 points on Thursday as
investors were upset by the prospects of a slowing US economy as well as rising
inflation which means an end to interest rate cuts.
"The index is likely to undergo a consolidation before any upward movement can
begin," said Stephen Soo, technical analyst at TA Securities.
Investors are expected to take a more cautious approach in view of the record
oil price, he said.
Oil prices passed 96 dollars per barrel mark for the first time in Asian trade
Thursday, before settling down 1.04 dollars at 93.49 dollars in New York.
Malaysia's Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop said yesterday that the
government is "somewhat concerned with the very high oil prices" as this could
lead to a global downturn and hurt exports.
Shares of newspaper company Star Publications and contract manufacturer Unisem
are expected to move after the companies announced quarterly results.
Unisem said third-quarter net profit jumped 74 percent to 31.1 million ringgit
as sales climbed and the company expects earnings to improve further in the
fourth quarter.
Star, which publishes Malaysia's largest English newspaper by readership, said
third-quarter net profit dropped to 42.8 million ringgit from 48.8 million
ringgit a year ago.
Elsewhere, car dealer EON said major shareholder DRB-HICOM has made a mandatory
general offer for the remaining shares in the company that it does not already
own at 2.10 ringgit each.
The offer came after DRB-HICOM completed its proposed acquisition of another 20
percent stake in EON to raise its shareholding to 49.31 percent.
Meanwhile, DRB-HICOM expects to conclude its planned acquisition of the
remaining 70 percent stake in Bank Muamalat, a full-fledged Islamic bank, by the
first quarter next year, the Edge Financial Daily reported, citing chairman Syed
Anwar Jamalullail.
State-controlled power supplier Tenaga Nasional has formed an alliance with
Italy's TurboCare SpA to grow its repair and maintenance services segment, the
Star newspaper reported.
On Thursday, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed down 4.49 points or 0.3
percent at 1,409.16, after hitting a fresh intraday record of 1,423.81.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30 large-cap index lost 75.76 points or 0.9 percent to
8,836.65, while the second board index inched down 0.64 point or 0.6 percent to
110.68.


source = osk wirenews