Asian bourses down on selling pressure
The sharp overnight falls on Wall Street, particularly in the tech stock-dominant Nasdaq
index, added to selling pressure in Asian markets Thursday.
Dr
M and Daim unaware of Khazanah interest
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin have
both said they are unaware of Khazanah National Bhd's interest in taking a stake in Time
Engineering Bhd, Bernama reports.
Aussie
dollar hits 20-month lows
The Australian dollar hit 20-month lows and was teetering on key support near US$0.5750
late Thursday, a boost from jobs data proving temporary in the face of broad-based Asian
currency weakness against the US dollar.
Airport
business soars in Q1
Air passenger and cargo movements--leading indicators of tourist arrivals and the
country's trade performance--rose strongly in the 1st quarter of this year.
Naluri
set to seal a deal under restructuring exercise: Tajudin
Naluri Bhd will seal a deal next week as part of a restructuring exercise brokered by the
Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee (CDRC), its chairman Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli said.
Unico
plans to list its technology subsidiary
Unico Holdings Bhd plans to eventually list Unico Technology Sdn Bhd, its technology arm
which is currently turning in RM8mil to RM9mil in pre-tax profits on revenues of about
RM300mil.
Task
force on internal controls
The KLSE has announced the establishment of a special task force which will be responsible
for the formulation and issuance of guidance to assist public listed companies in
reporting the state of their internal controls in their annual reports.
Amanah
Capital wants to retain sizeable stake in bank
Amanah Capital Partners Bhd (ACP), an integrated investment banking group, hopes to retain
a sizeable stake in its subsidiary Amanah Merchant Bank Bhd (AMBB) after AMBB's merger
with anchor bank Multi-Purpose Bank Bhd.
Malaysia
needs more e-business participants, says Unisys official
Malaysia will be able to lead the region in e-business in a few years if it is able to
attract greater participation from entrepreneurs, said Unisys president (Asia South) Luis
M. Dominguez.
Sin
Chew formally opens Kuching plant
Pemandangan Sinar Sdn Bhd (PSSB), which publishes the national Chinese language daily, Sin
Chew Jit Poh, officially opened its new RM10mil plant at the Pending Industrial Estate
in Kuching Thursday.
Use
convention to woo foreign timber buyers
Malaysian businessmen have been urged to use the coming Malaysian Timber Marketing
Convention (MTMC 2000) in Kuala Lumpur to convince foreign timber buyers of the need to
conduct business directly with local suppliers.
Telekom
studying impact of abolishing access fee
Telekom Malaysia Bhd will make an announcement on the impact of the proposal to scrap the
RM60 access fee for mobile phones once it has completed a viability study.
Leader
keen to move into local power sector
Leader Universal Holdings Bhd, a leading cable and wire manufacturer, is keen to synergise
its core business by venturing into the domestic power sector.
RAM
upgrades RHB bonds rating to BB2
Rating Agency Malaysia Bhd (RAM) has upgraded the rating on Rashid Hussain Bhd's RM800mil
redeemable secured bonds to BB2 from B3.
Kingshoe
expects sales to grow 10% this year
Safety Shoe maker, Kingshoe Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, expects its turnover to grow by at
least 10% this year from RM51mil in 1999.
SCB
set to launch first phase of Mutiara Damansara
SCB Development Bhd expects to launch the first phase of its latest property development
project, Mutiara Damansara by end of the month.
Kelanamas
revamp to involve buying nine firms
Kelanamas Industries Bhd has proposed to acquire nine companies involved in quarry
operations, the manufacture of the materials and property development as part of its
restructuring exercise.
Sun
expects a big hit with Solaris 8
Sun Microsystems expects to hit it big with its Solaris 8 operating environment,
which it said would be the first to satisfy the convergent requirements of enterprises
adapting to the Internet age and of dotComs adopting the disciplines of the datacenter.
Crimson
proposes to buy two pieces of land for RM113mil
Crimson Land Bhd has proposed to acquire two pieces of land in Johor and Kuala Lumpur for
a total of RM113mil.
Technology
Intel forays into streaming media
Intel Corp is investing US$200mil in a new business to help Web sites meet demand for
audio and video programming from a growing number of Internet users with speedy cable and
DSL connections.
Motorola
sets 4 major markets for WAP phones
Mobile phone maker Motorola has identified four main market segments for its wireless
application protocol (WAP) phones, the company's major product this year.
Nike
introduces 5 innovative high-tech gears for athletes
Nike Inc wants to connect with the wired athlete.
China
to build 20 R&D and 10 biotech centres
China plans to build 20 world-level research and development centres and 10 biotech
centres with an annual output value of 300 billion yuan under a 10-year development plan.
News
in brief
S'pore
parties play dotcom matchmaker for all levels
Call it a geek party. But local Bill Gates wannabes are discovering that time spent
partying--away from their computers--is going a long way towards giving their high-tech
venture ideas a kick-start.
Banking
Mortgage bankers turn to Internet B2B to
cut cost
American mortgage bankers, looking to cut costs and paperwork, are turning to the Internet
for business-to-business (B2B) interaction, according to Lender Technologies president and
chief executive officer David Lereah.
BCB
and IRB introduce income tax payment service for employers
Bumiputra-Commerce Bank (BCB) has formalised an arrangement with the Inland Revenue Board
(IRB) in which the bank will facilitate payments of schedular income tax deductions by
employers through its electronic collection service.
China
sets up association for banks and pushes reform
China has set up a banking association to promote self-regulation and help banks prepare
for the competition that membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will bring,
according to a report in Beijing's Financial News.
Eight
foreign banks allowed to do business in yuan
Eight overseas banks operating in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong province have been
given licences to engage in yuan business in China.
Deutsche
Bank and 4 Japanese companies set up new trust bank
The Deutsche Bank group and four Japanese companies have pooled their management of
pension funds in Japan into a newly launched trust bank.
Foreign News
Asia economists remain bullish
Tumbling stock prices and a growing conviction that US interest rates are still far from
their peak have failed to dent optimism in Asia that the region is well-placed to weather
a hard landing in the US economy.
Nasdaq
tumbles as techs take more bashing
Technology stocks have taken another drubbing on Wall Street, bringing the losses of the
Nasdaq composite index so far this week to more than 11%.
Microsoft
resists breakup, seeks more hearings
Microsoft Corp has asked the court hearing its antitrust trial to reject a government plan
to break the software giant into two, proposing restrictions on its business practices
instead.
News
Corp Q3 profit rises to US$193mil
News Corp, the media company controlled by Australian-born Rupert Murdoch, has reported a
15% increase in net profit to US$193mil for its third quarter to March 31 compared with
the same period a year ago.
Business Singapore
Raffles takes 10% stake in Ibexco
Raffles Holdings Ltd plans to invest S$6.5mil for a 10% stake in Ibexco, a company which
specialises in providing secure procurement services over the Internet, the Singapore Business
Times reported.
Onemedhub.com
and Oracle in strategic alliance
Onemedhub.COM Pte Ltd, a unit of Parkway Holdings Ltd, has entered into a strategic
relationship with Oracle Corp's wholly-owned Oracle Systems South East Asia (S) Pte Ltd.