Palm Oil Gains in Malaysia as Export Decline Slows on Improved Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Palm oil futures in Malaysia, the
benchmark for the commodity, gained after reports showing the
decline in the country's exports slowed as the price of the
vegetable oil dropped from its June record.

Palm oil for October delivery on the Malaysia Derivatives
Exchange rose as much as 28 ringgit, or 1.1 percent, to 2,513
ringgit ($734) a ton. It traded at 2,486 ringgit a ton at the
end of the morning trading session.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

UPDATE 1-Malaysia's CIMB sees fewer banks in near term

(Reuters) - Malaysia, with nine local banking groups, wants its banks
to merge and become bigger as the government opens up its
financial sector to foreign lenders.




That number could shrink to as few as five lending groups
in the near future, CIMB Chief Executive Nazir Razak said.
CIMB, the operating arm of state-controlled financial group
Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd , acquired smaller
rival Southern Bank for $1.8 billion in May last year .


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Malaysia's Inflation Probably Held Near 33-Month Low on Stronger Currency

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's inflation rate probably
held near a 33-month low in June as an appreciating currency
reduced the cost of imported goods.

The consumer price index rose 1.5 percent from a year
earlier, following a 1.4 percent gain in May, according to the
median forecast of 23 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The
inflation report is due tomorrow at 5 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

China to Lend $800 Million to Malaysia for Construction of Penang Bridge

(Bloomberg) -- Export-Import Bank of China plans to
lend $800 million to Malaysia for the construction of a west
coast bridge, in China's largest loan for an overseas project.

Malaysia's UEM Group Bhd., which is managing the building of
the 23-kilometer (14-mile) second Penang bridge, will sign a
contract with China Harbour Engineering Co. and UEM Construction
for the project, China Harbour said in a statement today given to
reporters in Kuala Lumpur.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Indonesian Rupiah, Philippine Peso, Ringgit Decline on Risk Reduction

(Bloomberg) -- Southeast Asian currencies such as
the Philippine peso and the Malaysian ringgit fell on speculation
overseas investors cut holdings of emerging-market assets,
preferring safer securities after U.S. stocks dropped.

The peso snapped a three-day rally, the biggest loser today
among 10 of the most-active Asian currencies, and the ringgit
declined the most since July 3 as regional equity markets slumped.
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index of
shares lost 0.8 percent, the most since June 27.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Asia's Currencies Strengthen as Demand for Riskier Assets May Increase

(Bloomberg) -- Asian currencies, including the Thai
baht and the Malaysian ringgit, strengthened on speculation signs
of improving global growth will encourage investors to put money
in riskier emerging-market assets.

Seven of the 10 most-active Asian currencies, excluding the
yen, also gained today as rising regional equities may attract
more funds into the region. Taiwan's dollar and the yen, used as
funding currencies for the so-called carry trade, declined as
investors borrow them to buy higher-yielding assets elsewhere.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Malaysian Bonds Fell as Low Yields Dent Investor Demand; Ringgit Weakens

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysian bonds headed for the
biggest weekly decline in a month on speculation yields below
the nation's benchmark interest rate will deter buying. The
ringgit fell for a second day.

Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz on July 2
said domestic interest rates remained appropriate, suggesting it
will likely keep its overnight lending rate unchanged at 3.5
percent later this month.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Khazanah Sells $850 Million of Islamic Bonds Convertible to Plus Shares

(Bloomberg) -- Khazanah Nasional Bhd., Malaysia's
state investment arm, sold $850 million of Islamic bonds that can
be converted into shares of the country's biggest toll-road
operator in the nation's biggest offer of convertible securities.

Khazanah increased the sale of the five-year exchangeable
bonds from $600 million because it received orders for 13 times
the amount of debt on offer, the company said in a statement last
night. The investment unit owns about 24 percent of PLUS
Expressways Bhd., the toll-road company.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Palm Oil Price Drops in Malaysia as Canada Farmers Sow Record Canola Crop

(Bloomberg) -- Palm oil prices in Malaysia fell the
most in five days after a report that Canadian farmers planted a
record canola crop, increasing supplies of alternative oils.

Canadian farmers planted 14.5 million acres of canola, 17
percent more than in 2006, beating the previous record set in
1994 of 14.2 million acres, Statistics Canada said on its
website yesterday. They planted less acreage for flaxseed, lured
by better prices for canola, the report said. Canada is the
third largest canola producer after China and EU countries.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Mohawk to buy wood flooring assets of Columbia Forest

(Reuters) - The assets, which include plants in the U.S. and Malaysia, are currently experiencing losses but are expected to add to earnings after the first year, Mohawk said in a statement.



The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Malaysian Government Bonds to Account for 0.4% of Citigroup's Global Index

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysian bonds will make up about
0.4 percent of Citigroup Inc.'s World Government Bond Index, a
benchmark tracked by some $1 trillion of global funds, the
world's biggest financial firm said.

Malaysia's ringgit-denominated government debt will be
included in the index for the first time as scheduled on July 1,
according to Susan Y. Lin, head of the bond index team in Hong
Kong. A total of $39.6 billion of Malaysia's securities qualify
for inclusion in the benchmark based on June 22 prices, she said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Aeon, `Stalled' in Japan, Turns to China for Growth in Supermarket Revenue

(Bloomberg) -- Aeon Co. in the next five years plans
to triple its stores in China, a country from which Japan's
largest supermarket operator predicts it will eventually generate
more revenue than domestically.

``Sales growth in Japan has stalled,'' the Chiba, Japan-
based company's assistant chief representative for China, James
Kazumasa Ishii, said. Aeon's Asia business, including China,
Malaysia and Thailand, accounts for less than 5 percent of the
group's revenue now.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

CIMB, European Islamic Bank Start Commodity Islamic Deposits in the U.K.

(Bloomberg) -- CIMB Group Sdn., Malaysia's second-
biggest financial group, started its first overseas commodity-
backed deposit program complying with Islamic law with the
U.K.'s European Islamic Investment Bank Plc.

The commodity Murabahah will help ``strengthen'' CIMB's
Islamic money market and foreign exchange operations in the U.K.,
Kuala Lumpur-based CIMB Group said in an e-mailed statement
yesterday. Murabahah is an Islamic monetary instrument that uses
commodities as its underlying asset to help banks manage their
liquidity and short-term deposits.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Malaysian Palm Oil May Average 54 Percent Higher This Year, OSK Forecasts

(Bloomberg) -- Palm oil futures in Malaysia, trader
of the benchmark contract, may average 54 percent higher this
year because of demand led by China for the world's most
consumed vegetable oil, according to OSK Research Sdn.

The futures may average 2,400 ringgit ($694) a ton this
year, Alvin Tai, an analyst at OSK, said today. This compares
with an average of 1,559 ringgit last year. He raised his
forecast by 12 percent from an earlier estimate of 2,150 ringgit.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Malaysian Government Bonds Gain; Ringgit Heads for Best Week in Two Months

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's government bonds rose on
speculation a rebound in the local currency will boost demand
for the nation's debt. The ringgit headed for its biggest weekly
gain in almost two months.

Benchmark three-year notes headed for a weekly gain, ending
two weeks of losses, after demand increased yesterday at a
government sale of Islamic bonds. A stronger ringgit will
deliver additional returns to foreign investors when they
convert the value of their holdings to their local currency.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Malaysian Government Bonds Gain as Yields Lure Buyers; Ringgit Strengthens

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's bonds rose on speculation
yields at the highest in four months will attract investors. The
ringgit had the biggest gain since December.

Government bond yields have risen about two-thirds of a
percentage point in the past three weeks as expectations for
lower borrowing costs waned. The ringgit rose for a second day,
recouping part of 2.4 percent loss last week that was the most
since Bank Negara Malaysia scrapped a dollar peg in July 2005.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Malaysia Palm Oil Drops Most in More Than Three Years on Demand Concerns

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia palm oil prices had their
biggest drop in more than three years as rising global interest
rates fueled concern that economic growth may slow and reduce
demand for vegetable oils and other commodities.

Equities markets around the world slumped and U.S. Treasury
yields soared to the highest in almost a year on expectations
central banks will raise rates. Palm oil has fallen 11 percent
since reaching a record 2,764 ringgit ($795) a ton on June 6 amid
expectations of rising demand for food and industrial purposes.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Malaysia Seeks $1.1 Billion Investment for Fish Farming, Cattle Breeding

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's government is seeking 3.8
billion ringgit ($1.1 billion) in private funding for projects
including tropical fish farming and cattle breeding to boost
exports and safeguard domestic food supplies.

About 100,000 hectares, an area bigger than New York City,
has been earmarked across Malaysia to rear shrimp, ornamental
fish and seafood, Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in
an interview. He plans to more than double the value of fish
caught and produced to 6.6 billion ringgit by 2010.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Transmile Group Shares Drop to Three-Year Low in Malaysia on Special Audit

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Transmile Group Bhd., a
Malaysian air-cargo operator controlled by billionaire Robert
Kuok, tumbled to a three-year low after an audit found possible
sales overstatements that may force the company to report losses.

A special accounting audit at the air-transport operator
showed sales may have been inflated by 333 million ringgit ($98
million) in 2006, or 30 percent of total revenue, and by 197
million ringgit in 2005, equating to 36 percent of the year's
sales, Kuala Lumpur-based Transmile said in a statement May 30.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Islamic Nations to Boost Investment, Trade to Safeguard Economic Growth

(Bloomberg) -- Muslim countries will this week call
for greater foreign investment and trade between Asia-Pacific
and the Middle East to help safeguard economic growth and jobs.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his
counterparts from Indonesia and Kuwait, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
and Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, will join
investors at the three-day World Islamic Economic Forum in Kuala
Lumpur to discuss projects and investments to facilitate that.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News