The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- M'sian market seen to be volatile this week(update)
- Sales of gold up on eBay amid stock market turmoil
- S'pore PM says US, EU threaten global economy; another recession possible
| M'sian market seen to be volatile this week(update) Posted: 14 Aug 2011 06:58 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: BURSA Malaysia is likely to be volatile this week as investors continue to be jittery over the European debt crisis, coupled with the negative rating of the US economy by Standard & Poor's, dealers said. The local bourse started last week on a choppy note, in line with the regional bourses on news of possible financial crisis. This resulted in huge sell-off and dragged the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI to below 1,500 level for the first time since March 17, 2011. Affin Investment Bank head of retail research, Dr Nazri Khan, said the Asian markets would likely continue bouncing this week as a drop in the US jobless claims eased concerns about the global economic recovery, boosting global exporters and commodity producers. Meanwhile, on the corporate scene, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia hogged the limelight with share swap deal, creating a powerful synergy between them and totally changed the local airline industry landscape. On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI dropped 40.76 points to 1,483.67 from 1,524.43 previously. The Finance Index fell 416.41 points to 14,072.74, Industrial Index declined 43.23 points to 2,715.01 and the Plantation Index lost 384.49 points to 7,208.45. The FBM Emas Index decreased 33.12 points to 10,147.1, FBM Ace slashed 255.93 points to 3,794.09, FBMT100 erased 304.17 points to 9,963.58 and FBM70 dived 460.92 points to 11,052.20. Total weekly volume increased to 7.776 billion units valued at RM14.682bil from 6.020 billion shares worth RM9.858bil previously. The main market turnover improved 6.135 billion unit valued at RM14.448bil from 4.089 billion units valued at RM9.53bil. Volume on the ACE market dropped to 1.033 billion shares worth RM162.075mil from 1.38 billion shares worth RM236.207mil. Warrants rose to 586.675 million units valued at RM64.915 million from 481.029 million units valued at RM71.227 million previously. At 9.30 a.m.(0139gnt) Monday, there were 246 gainers, 66 losers and 139 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. The FBM-KLCI was at 1,487.70 up 4.03 points, the FBMACE was at 3,811.87 up 17.78 points, and the FBMEmas was at 10,182.37 up 35.27 points. Turnover was at 121.327 million shares valued at RM68.025 million. The AP reported Asia-Pacific stock markets opened strongly on Monday, after stocks in the U.S. and Europe closed higher last week following a volatile few days. Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbed 145.86 points, or 1.63 percent, to 9,109.58 in early morning trading. In Australia, the country's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 58.3 points, or 1.4 percent, to 4,230.9. New Zealand's benchmark NZX50 index was up 24.4 points, or 0.76 percent, to 3240.9. Global markets fluctuated wildly last week as investors already concerned over Europe's worsening debt crisis were further rattled by signs the U.S. might be headed toward recession. Stocks in Europe and on Wall Street ended the volatile week higher on Friday following positive retail sales data out of the U.S. and after European regulators imposed temporary bans on short-selling of financial shares late Thursday. - Bernama/AP
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| Sales of gold up on eBay amid stock market turmoil Posted: 14 Aug 2011 06:44 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO: For gold sellers on eBay, the recent stock market turmoil has been a boon for business. Gold and silver sales on eBay had already been rising steadily over the past several years - so much so that eBay Inc. created a special area in May to make it easier for buyers to find sellers. Now, activity on that part of the site, the Bullion Center, is intensifying as consumers unnerved by the economic uncertainty flock to gold in hopes it will be a stable investment. "When people are coming down to the question, 'Do they want to have cash in the bank or gold in their hands?' the answer is they'd rather have gold or silver," said Jacob Chandler, CEO of Great Southern Coins, the largest seller of precious metals on eBay. The stock market just ended one of its most volatile weeks in years, prompted in part by a downgrade in the nation's credit rating and fears of another recession. The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 6 percent on Monday, its worst one-day drop since December 2008. Then the index rose Tuesday, fell Wednesday and rose Thursday and Friday to end the week 2 percent lower than a week ago. Through most of last week, the average selling price increased for gold bullion - bars or coins stamped with their weight and level of purity. According to the most recent data available from eBay, sales of 1-ounce gold American Eagle coins and 1-ounce gold Pamp Suisse bars rose steadily from Aug. 5 to Wednesday, before dipping slightly on Thursday. On Aug. 5, when Standard & Poor's lowered the nation's credit rating, American Eagle coins were selling for an average of $1,800 among eBay's featured sellers. The average price of the coins, produced by the U.S. Mint, rose more than 8 percent to $1,952 on Wednesday, before dropping to $1,915 on Thursday. The Pamp Suisse brand of gold bars sold for an average of $1,787 on Aug. 5 and climbed nearly 8 percent to $1,927 by Wednesday. On Thursday, the bars dropped slightly to $1,890. Even before last week's market turbulence, investors were cautious because economic signals in the U.S. and overseas pointed toward trouble. The Dow index fell 6 percent in the week ending Aug. 6. That week, the number of gold buyers on eBay rose 11 percent compared with the year's weekly average. The number of gold sellers rose 14 percent. EBay would not provide the total number of buyers and sellers. "With all the turmoil in the markets, this is seen as a way to diversify," said Anthony Delvecchio, eBay's vice president of business management and strategy for eBay's North America business. EBay, which is based in San Jose, California, does not impose minimum purchase amounts for bullion. Sellers offer gold both through auctions and "Buy It Now" fixed-price sales. The increased popularity of gold on eBay echoes what's happening in the broader gold market, where prices have spiked during the past two years. Gold traded at about $900 per ounce in the summer of 2008, before the financial crisis unfolded that year. It passed $1,600 in late May and briefly rose above $1,800 for the first time on Wednesday before pulling back to $1,784. On Friday, gold fell to $1,740.60 per ounce, still nearly twice the summer 2008 prices. Great Southern Coins has benefited from this uptick. Chandler said the company is selling more gold lately, and its silver sales remain strong, too. Chandler estimated his business has nearly quadrupled in the past 45 days, and he said it appeared to be up about five or six times during the past week, with most of this growth coming from sales on eBay. Daniel Hirsch, a New York-based statistician who recently purchased more than a dozen gold coins on eBay from Great Southern Coins, said he started buying gold less than a year ago in an effort to expand his investment portfolio. "It's kind of a safe haven and a hedge against low interest rates," he said. - AP Latest business news from AP-Wire Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| S'pore PM says US, EU threaten global economy; another recession possible Posted: 14 Aug 2011 06:30 PM PDT SINGAPORE: Economic problems in the U.S. and Europe pose a serious risk to world growth, Singapore's prime minister said Sunday. "America and Europe have major problems, still unresolved," Lee Hsien Loong said in a speech. "There's quite a possibility that the world will go into another recession." Singapore is the financial services hub of Southeast Asia and one of the world's richest countries. Lee's comments are his most pessimistic on the global economy so far this year. Global stock and commodities markets have plunged this month amid investor fears that the U.S. could be slipping into its second recession in three years and Europe's debt crisis could deepen. Lee said the first-ever downgrade of the U.S. debt rating by Standard and Poor's earlier this month reflected the country's unsustainable debt and deficit growth levels and the inability of political leaders to agree on a solution. "If they don't correct it, they're heading for trouble," Lee said. "But they're not able to correct it because there are deep divisions between the Democrats and the Republicans." "The real issue is investors around the world lack confidence that governments will be able to make the hard decisions." The debt crisis in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy threatens to undermine European banks which have bought bonds from those countries, Lee said. Singapore's economy suffered a brief, sharp recession in the first half of 2009, but rebounded to grow 15 percent last year and 4.9 percent in the first half of this year. The city-state of 5 million people depends on finance, tourism and manufacturing and is one of the most sensitive countries in Asia to fluctuations in external consumer demand. - AP Latest business news from AP-Wire Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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