Oil falls to near US$36 in Asia Monday

SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell to near $36 a barrel Monday in Asia as investors eyed a slew of U.S. corporate earnings this week for signs of weakening consumer demand amid the worst recession in decades. Light, sweet crude for February delivery was down 44 cents at $36.07 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract, which expires on Tuesday, rose $1.11 on Friday to settle at $36.51. The March contract was trading at $42.40 a barrel. Investors expect to glean more insight into the...

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Medium to large enterprises' optimism slumps

KUALA LUMPUR: Optimism among Malaysian medium to large enterprises (MLEs) has slumped drastically in the last 12 months, according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report. SJ Grant Thornton managing partner Datuk N.K. Jasani said the Malaysian businesses optimism balance fell from +38% to +2% during that period. A balance figure refers to the percentage of survey respondents who are optimistic less the percentage of those who are pessimistic. “The drop in optimism in Malaysia was due to the slump in the stock markets, poor performances...

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KLCI crosses 900

KUALA LUMPUR: The benchmark KL Composite Index easily crossed the crucial 900 level in early trade on Monday on buying of selected blue chips, mirroring the gains on regional markets after the strong close on Wall Street last Friday. At 9.30am, the KLCI was up 11.63 points to 905.99. Turnover was 112.87 million shares valued at RM101mil. Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 44 points or 2.44% to 1,874.41, the Nikkei 225 added 2.34% to 9,067.11 while the Shanghai A Share Index gained 1.8% to 1,946.16. Crude oil rose US$1.36 to US$47.71 while the...

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