BURSA MALAYSIA: Share Prices End Lower On Profit-Taking Activities

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended lower Tuesday on profit-taking activities, which was offset to a certain extent by selective buying interest, dealers said.

The 100-quality stock Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (CI) lost 2.73 points to 962.82 after opening 0.21 of a point higher at 965.76.

The Second Board Index shed 0.62 of a point to 83.46, the Mesdaq Index went down 0.70 of a point to 107.62 and the Industrial Index declined 2.79 points to 2,027.63.

Of the FTSE-BM Index series, the FBMEmas fell 29.32 points to 6,232.63 and the FBM30, which comprised the top 30 companies by full market capitalisation, decreased by 23.03 points to 6,225.92.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 463 to 229 while 332 counters were unchanged, 350 untraded and 26 suspended.

Turnover dropped to 519.007 million shares worth RM906.702 million compared with 550.997 million shares worth RM945.654 million posted Monday.

The dealers said today's local bourse activities were mostly mixed in the morning session, and failed to sustain Monday's steady performance at the close following the lack of stimulating news to boost the market.

"The trading mood remained cautious as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committe meeting tomorrow," one of the dealers said.

"Most of them are monitoring closely the outcome of the meeting which will provide some directions to the market," he added.

Small caps such as Iris Corp and Mobif were the hardest hit today as investors showed concern over a news report that US securities watchdog was probing heavy losses of a US fund that has invested heavily in these two companies.

According to the report, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was investigating Aeneas Capital Management LP, the hedge fund company run by former SAC Capital Advisors LLC money manager Thomas Grossman over the losees in its Malaysia-only Priam fund.

The Priam fund remains a major investor in Iris, the maker of electronic passports, and Mobif, which specialises in Internet telephony.

Iris went down five sen to 21 sen while Mobif eased 10 sen to 51.5 sen.

Tenaga Nasional, meawnhile, extended its gradual climb today as investors believed that it may benefit from an Energy Commission proposal for the least-cost producer to dispatch power, which in turn will help the company to cut its operating costs.

RHB also continued to be on the uptrend after market talks that the bank may involved into another round of merger and acquisition activities.

Tenaga's shares went up 10 sen to settle at RM9.70 while RHB rose one sen to RM1.31.



At the close, volume on the Main Board depreciated to 278.683 million shares worth RM795.039 million from Monday's 332.345 million shares valued at RM834.918.

Turnover on the Second Board went down to 71.303 million shares valued at RM43.218 million from 80.056 million shares valued at RM43.240 million previously.

The Mesdaq Market's volume, however, rose to 163.268 million shares valued at RM64.976 million from 125.806 million shares worth RM59.723 million.

The volume of call warrants declined to 5.753 million shares worth RM3.469 million from 12.790 million shares worth RM7.773 million previously.

Direct business deals advanced to 350.604 million shares worth RM67.811 million from 53.112 million shares worth RM93.427 million.

DCEIL International, which was among the most active stocks, shed 3.5 sen to 19 sen, followed by AirAsia which dropped five sen to RM1.56 and Tebrau Teguh which was down 5.5 sen to 40.5 sen.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost 10 sen to RM11.20, MISC added five sen to RM8.70 and Telekom Malaysia declined five sen to RM9.05.

On a sectoral basis, consumer products accounted for 6.854 million shares traded on the Main Board, industrial products 42.739 million, construction 20.370 million, trade/services 92.879 million, technology 4.132 million, infrastructure 3.873 million, finance 35.924 million, hotels 1.002 million, properties 44.460 million, plantation 9.544 million, mining 4,200 shares, REITS 656.200 million, closed/fund 136,100, ETF nil and loans 16.110 million.

-- BERNAMA

Malaysia To Upgrade Six Nanotechnology Centres, Says Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will upgrade the existing six nanotechnology centres to woo the best scientists locally and from abroad, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Tuesday night.

"Under the National Nanotechnology Initiative, these centres will be upgraded to become centres of excellence that will attract not only the best talents from within Malaysia but also scientists from outside Malaysia.

"They will operate as a network of centres of excellence to facilitate mobility of scientists and the sharing of resources," he said when opening the International Council for Science (ICSU) regional office for Asia and the Pacific here.

The ICSU was formerly known as the International Council for Scientific Unions. A non-governmental organisation established in 1931, it is devoted to promoting the development of the sciences.

Malaysia has been chosen as host for its second regional office in the world, after Pretoria, South Africa.

"Nanoscience and nanotechnolgy have tremendous potential to enable the generation of new technologies and products across a vast array of fields including health care, information technology, energy production and national defence.

"The impact of nanotechnology on our way of life is believed to reach profound levels in the coming decades. The global race to incorporate nanotechnology into products is going on at an unprecedented rate," he added.

Najib, who is also defence minister, said the government planned to establish a National Nanotechnology Centre, and this reflected the pivotal role of nanotechnology in Malaysia's economic development.

"Malaysia realises that the development of new and emerging technologies such as nanotechnology and biotechnology requires extensive collaboration and networking with international partners," said Najib.

Therefore, the setting up of the ICSU regional office in Kuala Lumpur will become an important channel for enhancing Malaysia's international linkages.

"I am optimistic that the ICSU regional office will not only help promote greater collaboration and sharing of knowledge among scientists in the Asian and Pacific region but it will also ensure that the gap between developed and developing countries in technology transfer is narrowed.

"With the establishment of ICSU, we have put in place the right strategy and hopefully created the necessary science and technology capabilities for us to make the next quantum leap towards consolidating and strengthening science in developing societies," he said.

The Academy of Science Malaysia has been chosen as ICSU's host organisation.

Present were Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis and ICSU president Prof Goverdhan Mehta.

-- BERNAMA