Written by Joseph Chin
Wednesday, 30 June 2010 07:37
KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets are expected to see strong downward pressure on Wednesday, June 30 after Wall Street fell on growing fears of a weakening global economic outlook.
On Wall Street, Reuters reported the S&P 500 had tumbled below its 2010 intraday low of 1,040.78 during the session on Tuesday. The index closed at its lowest level since Oct 30, breaking its closing low for the year at 1,050.47 -- another bearish signal for markets.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 268.22 points, or 2.65%, to 9,870.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 33.33 points, or 3.10%, to 1,041.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 85.47 points, or 3.85%, to 2,135.18.
At Bursa Malaysia, stocks to watch include GLOMAC BHD [], Green Packet, SUNWAY HOLDINGS BHD [], NAIM HOLDINGS BHD [] and George Kent (Malaysia) Bhd.
Glomac's fourth quarter earnings surged 80% to RM12.45 million and the property developer expects its financials to improve, helped by the company's locked in real estate sales, upcoming property launches, and landbank expansion. Its unbilled sales of RM588 million as at end-April 2010 was a new record high for Glomac
Green Packet's Packet One Networks will use RM322.9 million (US$100 million) proceeds for stake sale to SK Telecom to fund phases one and two of its WiMax infrastructure.
The infrastructure rollout include its WiMAX network and provision of commercial wireless access services across Malaysia, and working capital purposes to ensure the successful rollout of its WiMAX service in Malaysia.
Sunway Holdings targets record earnings for FY10 and it expects CONSTRUCTION [] to account for 50% of earnings. Its current order book is RM3 billion and it is bidding for RM16 billion of contracts, of which RM10 billion are local jobs.
It is also mulling to set aside 20% of its profit after tax as dividend in FY11.
Sarawak-based builder and property developer Naim Holdings Bhd signed a memorandum of understanding with three other parties to explore the prospect of collaborating for the development of two community inter-linked smart cities.
The MoU was with the Miri City Council, and two other parties in China - Guangzhou Panyu Economy and Trade Promotion Bureau of Guangzhou, and Institute of Digital Guangdong for the development of the Panyu-Miri Smart Cities (PMSC).
PMSC shall create and maintain a special information super highway link between the smart intelligent cities of Panyu and Miri with a “mirror” computer server to be hosted in each other’s cities which will enable users in both cities to enjoy community linked projects.
George Kent, which posted a 45% rise in its latest quarterly earnings, is on a capacity expansion mode to strengthen the growth platform of its core businesses in water meters manufacturing and construction.
The group would invest RM50 million to double the production capacity of its manufacturing facilities to two million water meters per annum in three years from one million currently.
MUTIARA GOODYEAR DEVELOPMENT [] Bhd posted net profit of RM8.89 million in the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2010 and expects the current financial year to be satisfactory due to improving outlook for the overall economy.
Revenue was RM42.35 million. Earnings and revenue were before the adoption of the Issues Committee (IC) Interpretation with the effective date starting from Feb 1, 2010.