Gamuda takes on a mammoth task

It is a setting Gamuda Bhd managing director Datuk Lin Yun Ling is familiar with. Seated in the boardroom in Gamuda's soon-to-be-old office, Lin has a glass of juice in front of him, prepared for a lengthy interview on a topic that has huge implications on the construction and property giant.

While the setting is customary, the developments within the company are changing fast. Lin and his people at Gamuda will soon vacate their office of the past 25 years to move to a newer RM150mil headquarters.

The company is doing so on the eve of undertaking arguably one of the most challenging jobs in its history. Some may worry about moving from the premises that has brought much luck to Lin and Gamuda. Lin, however, was unfazed about chancing the move.

“We will know in time,” laughs Lin, to whether the fengshui, of which he is not a staunch believer, of the new office will match the luck the company has enjoyed so far in its history.

Wall Street starts February strong on factory data, Greece
(Reuters) - Stocks extended January's rally on Wednesday after upbeat global manufacturing data boosted sentiment and as Greece neared a long-delayed deal with private creditors.


The recent run of better-than-expected economic data around the world, though still not suggesting a booming expansion, has helped lift equity markets as investors move away from a worst-case scenario for the global economy.


An index of the U.S. manufacturing sector rose in January to its highest level since June, an industry group said, while China's factory sector expanded slightly, confounding expectations for a contraction. Germany recorded its first rise in manufacturing output in four months.


"The numbers aren't horrible, the trend continues that the news is OK," said Brian Battle, vice president of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners in Chicago. "I think we're going to grind higher."


Optimism spurred gains in industrials, financials and basic materials, which rose between 1.1 percent and 1.7 percent. Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N), a company heavily exposed to global industry, rose 1.3 percent to $110.52 and was the biggest boost to the Dow industrials.


Trading volume was higher than it has been in recent days. Volume of the NYSE, Amex, and Nasdaq was 7.80 billion compared to its 20-day moving average of 6.97 billion. The wider participation comes after four down days when market movements were minimal and volume generally light.

Euro up 2nd day on crisis hopes but caution abounds

(Reuters) - The euro rose against the dollar for a second straight session on Tuesday in cautious trade on talk the European Central Bank could lend money to the International Monetary Fund to help stem the debt crisis.

The euro zone is discussing the option of financing emergency help for Italy or Spain by using money from national central banks to boost International Monetary Fund resources - but only as a last resort, euro zone officials said.

Euro zone ministers struggled to ramp up the firepower of their rescue fund and raised the possibility of asking the IMF for more help on Tuesday after Italy's borrowing costs hit a euro lifetime high of nearly 8 percent.

Talk of an ECB/IMF deal implies that the Europeans are really having trouble coming up with any new schemes to stabilize the region, according to Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT Forex in Jersey City, New Jersey.

"The rally in the euro today was sparked by what would normally be extremely negative news for the currency."

Gold rises with equities again, open interest down

(Reuters) - Gold rose for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, extending the previous day's rally, as strong physical demand and a weaker dollar amid economic optimism lifted the precious metal.

Bullion -- a traditional safe haven which has recently followed riskier assets -- tracked equities' gain on a rebound in U.S. consumer confidence and as investors across the board eyed further progress on a solution to Europe's debt crisis.

Overall market liquidity in U.S. gold futures fell to its lowest level since April, data from the most recent U.S. futures regulator showed, while investors continued to shore up bullion holdings by buying gold-backed exchange traded funds.

"It's all the macroeconomic events that are driving every single market including gold, not market fundamentals" said Ron Lawson, partner of commodities investment firm LOGIC Advisors.

"The fundamental reasons for owning gold are as good today as they were when gold was trading $300 to $400 lower."

Spot gold was up 0.5 percent at $1,719.10 an ounce by 3:00 p.m. EST (8:00 p.m. British time).

Strategy Analytics Sees Stabilizing Handset Markets

STOCKHOLM (Dow Jones)--Global telephone handset shipments totaled 273 million units in the second quarter, down 8% from a year earlier, Strategy Analytics said in a report Thursday, but added there are signs of a market recovery.


"We forecast that positive growth will return in Q1 2010," Strategy Analytics Wireless Director Neil Mawston told Dow Jones Newswires. "It does look like there is a gradual, incremental improvement in the market taking place now."
The rate of shipment volume decline slowed in the second quarter from the 14% year-on-year slump in the first quarter of the year, the research firm said.


"We believe the relative upturn in the global handset market has been driven by improved consumer confidence in some regions, such as China, and by partial restocking of some retailers' depleted supplies," it said.


"These factors indicate to us that the global market is showing signs of stabilization and the worst of the handset recession may be behind us," it added.


Strategy Analytics forecast 290 million handsets to be shipped worldwide in the third quarter 2009, for an annual decline of 5%.

"By the time of the 2009 Western holiday season, top-five laggards Motorola and Sony Ericsson will have brought a number of new devices to market, and aggressive promotional campaigns from other vendors and operators should spark renewed interest among consumers," it said.

Market leader Nokia Corp's (NOK) market share fell to 37.8% from 41% in the previous year, as shipments declined in all regions except China, Strategy Analytics said. Still, it said the company's sales of smartphones such as the 5800 and E71 were relatively healthy.

Global research shows recession depression slowly fading

KUALA LUMPUR — Leading global market research firm Synovate today released its latest global survey results on the economy, finding that people are slowly becoming more optimistic.

Synovate surveyed more than 17,300 people across 26 markets and found that people are regaining their positive outlook on the economy, becoming more optimistic for themselves and their country’s economy.

While the recession has cut a swathe through economies across the world, it has damaged some more than others - and changed people’s mindsets and habits in some places far more than others.

Synovate’s Global Director of Knowledge Management and Insights, Mike Sherman, said some people remain mired in gloom; some are just seeing an impact from the recession and others are over it... if not in their wallets, certainly in their minds.

"This global survey is useful for seeing overall trends and getting a sense of how people are feeling right now in individual markets. For an overall picture, we compared results from the 17 markets¹* that conducted the same survey in May 2009 and November 2008 and we see growing optimism across the world... or at least the slow abandonment of pessimism"

Global stock market rally falters

LONDON — A global stock market rally faltered on Tuesday as European stocks fell on profit-taking, despite Tokyo striking a 10-month high on global economic optimism and company earnings news.

Japanese shares gained 0.22 percent to reach the multi-month pinnacle after Wall Street had also soared to a 2009 record on a wave of investor enthusiasm over the global economic outlook.

But Europe's main equity markets fell into the red in Tuesday morning deals after striking their highest points so far this year on Monday.

"There has been some profit-taking, but the main trend is still positive so this could be the market taking a breather," said ETX Capital trader Manoj Ladwa.

Frankfurt sank 0.86 percent, London dropped 0.78 percent and Paris dived 0.69 percent. All three had each gained about 1.5 percent in value the previous day on a wave of investor enthusiasm.

"Continued talk of economic recovery and the plethora of better than expected economic readings are showing that at worst we are nearing the bottom of this recession," added CMC Markets analyst James Hughes.

"Many are of the opinion that the turnaround is well underway and one thing that will show us that will be the (US) jobs report on Friday."