FBMKLCI 1499.28 DJ+8.78 CRUDE OIL 102.74 RM 3.08

Asian markets retreated yesterday following gains in crude oil price as unrest in the Arab world triggered fresh protests in Iran. Nymex crude oil, which settled at US$99.63 a barrel on Tuesday, rose above US$100 per barrel early yesterday following reports of clashes between Iranian security forces and supporters of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who were arrested last week together with their wives.

Kencana and Dialog but AirAsia and MAS could see downside pressure due to the crude oil price and following the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) move to downgrade its airline industry outlook for 2011 to US$8.6 billion from the US$9.1 billion projected in December 2010.

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) posted a RM10.1bil jump in net profit for its third quarter to RM23.7bil owing largely to proceeds from the listing of two subsidiaries on Bursa Malaysia but indicated high annual dividends to the Government will need to be cut in the future.

MMC Corp Bhd and Gamuda Bhd have entered into a shareholders agreement to regulate their rights and liabilities as shareholders of a company that will act as the project delivery partner for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project.

Evermaster Group Bhd’s removal from the official list of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd will be deferred until further notice by Bursa Malaysia.

Transmile Group Bhd has submitted an application to Bursa Malaysia to appeal against the latter's decision to delist the company, and to seek an extension of time to submit its regularisation plan. Meanwhile, the trading of Transmile shares will be suspended effective from March 2011 but the removal of the securities from the official list of Bursa Securities on March 7 will be deferred, pending the decision on the appeal.

Property developer SP Setia Bhd has bought 108.5ha of prime freehold land in Cyberjaya’s flagship zone for RM420.4mil from Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd.

Palm-to-property conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd said yesterday it has not entered into any agreement to invest in Cameroon oil palm plantations. The company was responding to a media report which said it was considering a US$2.5bil plantation expansion deal in the African nation.

Proton Holdings Bhd's endeavour to incorporate select technologies and manufacturing expertise from Nissan Motor Co could lead to potential cost savings in capital expenditure (capex) and research and development (R&D) for the national carmaker. OSK Research said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Tuesday between Proton and Nissan to conduct feasibility studies to use the latter's platform and power train for upcoming Proton models would augur well for the national car company. “We believe that using Nissan's versatile platform and power train for Proton's upcoming global compact car will lighten the national carmaker's capex burden, given that such an endeavour can be costly (at least US$150mil to US$200mil),” OSK said in a report yesterday.

Axiata could be in focus after Celcom posted net profit after tax and minority interests of RM1.9 billion for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010, which was an increase of 23% on-year. Its revenue rose 8.3% to RM6.85 billion. Celcom had allocated RM1 billion as capital expenditure to enhance network coverage capacity and quality of which 60% is for data and 40% for voice.