Important market news

Fed's Lockhart Sees No Sign Housing Recession Is Harming Broader Economy. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said he hasn't seen conclusive signs that the U.S. housing recession has harmed the wider economy and warned that inflation has yet to be contained.

Says Credit Turmoil's Economic Effect Is `Limited' in Regional Report. The Federal Reserve found the effects of the August credit-market rout on the broader economy to be ``limited'' beyond the housing industry, according to its regional business survey.

Fed's Poole and Lockhart Decline to Endorse Rate Cut as Credit Rout Gauged. Four regional Federal Reserve bank presidents declined to endorse a cut in the benchmark interest rate this month, as policy makers gauge the

Central Bank Governor Zhou Says Liquidity Continues to `Increase Rapidly' China's central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, cited increased liquidity for extra bill and bond sales and last night's increase in the proportion of deposits that commercial lenders must set aside as reserves.

Malaysia's 2008 budget will be announced by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi at 4pm today (7 Sept. 2008).

U.S. Stocks Fall For Second Week As Economy Loses Jobs Amid Housing Slump U.S. stocks fell for a second week after the economy unexpectedly lost jobs for the first time since 2003, prompting speculation the housing slump is spreading.

Bank of Beijing to Raise as Much as $2 Billion in Shanghai Share Offering Bank of Beijing Co., part owned by ING Groep NV, will raise as much as 15 billion yuan ($2 billion) in a Shanghai initial public offering to boost its finances and compete with larger domestic rivals and foreign banks.

Stocks closed sharply higher on expectations the Fed will ease next week, while strong sales from McDonald's helped to boost the Dow.

Countrywide Financial, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said Thursday it has lined up $12 billion of financing to help weather a housing slowdown that will lead to widespread layoffs.

China Construction Bank Corp. will raise as much as 58 billion yuan ($7.7 billion) in the world's second-biggest share sale this year, riding a rally that's made China's stocks the most expensive.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) will hit 1,500 points by June next year underpinned by continued government pump-priming, robust domestic consumption and strong developments in the oil and gas sector, JPMorgan Securities ( Malaysia ) Sdn Bhd said.

“We are still positive on the Malaysian equity market as the country’s fundamentals are still intact and strong. There are a lot of positive news flows, too.

“The civil service salary increment announced by the government as well as changes to allow monthly withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund for housing loans repayment will keep the economy strong. An added factor is also the government drive to lure Middle Eastern investments into the Iskandar Development Region (IDR),” he said at a roundtable on JPMorgan’s regional view on economy and currencies including Malaysia yesterday.

He said JPMorgan forecast 21% earnings growth this year and 10% in 2008, adding that the equity market would be kept buoyant by domestic demand growth.

Fears were sparked by the Bank of England's (BoE) emergency loan to Northern Rock, Britain's eighth-largest listed bank, whose access to funds dried up as the cost of borrowing between banks rose in the broader credit crisis.

The Bank of England said Northern Rock was solvent and only in need of short-term help, but many customers were not taking any chances.

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of Middle Eastern investors, headed by Gulf Petroleum of Qatar, is evaluating and scouting around for investment opportunities in Malaysia.

Its president Abdulaziz Hamad A. Al-Delaimi said the consortium was looking at investments in oil and gas, real estate and Islamic banking.

“We have decided with our group in the Gulf area to evaluate and investigate the possibility of developing business in Malaysia,'' he told a media conference yesterday.

Apart from Malaysia, he said the consortium was also looking at Indonesia, Brunei and Thailand for business opportunities.

Abdulaziz said the group had a long-term plan of making Malaysia a hub for its business in South-East Asia.

He said other consortium members, including Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance Co, preferred to remain anonymous at the moment, adding that they would surface once a business decision was reached.

Asian markets rallied in the morning session Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve slashed two key interest rates -- the benchmark fed fund rate and the discount rate -- by 50 basis points each. But the U.S. dollar plumbed a 15-year low versus a basket of currencies.

The ringgit closed higher against the US dollar yesterday as investors took advantage of the weaker greenback to buy the local currency, dealers said.

At 5pm, the ringgit strengthened against the US dollar at 3.4465/3.4495 compared with 3.4525/3.4575 at Wednesday closing.

It is believed that the foreign investors will return to Malaysia equity market due to the attractive returns in term of capital appreciation and currency gains.

The Bush administration reached an agreement with the industry to freeze interest rates for certain subprime mortgages for five years to combat foreclosures.