Zeti: Rising prices may hurt spending, slow expansion
Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said soaring food and energy prices may hurt household spending and damp economic growth, slowing expansion in 2008 to below its March forecast.

Weak start for Q3, Oil surges to US$143.67
With oil again at a fresh record high of US$143.67 and political concerns at home, the market continued to stay cautious at the start of the third quarter Tuesday. 

France Telecom scraps bid for TeliaSonera
France Telecom SA scrapped its 244 billion kronor (US$40.8bil) offer for TeliaSonera AB after the Swedish company rejected the bid and investors said a takeover would erode value.

NagaCorp mulls over casino rights sale in Cambodia
NagaCorp Ltd, the monopoly casino operator in Phnom Penh, said it may sell a licence to foreign companies, giving them the right to develop a new gaming property in the city.

Arcelor-Mittal eyes big car steel price increase
Arcelor-Mittal intends to raise prices for automotive steel by around 60% in gradual steps to avoid a massive increase next year, a German car magazine reported.

Siemens CEO confirms 17,200 jobs cut
Siemens AG chief executive officer Peter Loescher confirmed that Europe’s largest engineering company plans to cut as many as 17,200 jobs by 2010, according to the newspaper Bild-Zeitung.

Britain’s May mortgage approvals at record low
Approvals for new home loans in Britain plummeted in May to a record low, official data showed yesterday, in a sign that house prices will fall sharply in the coming months.

PAMB to send aid to China and Myanmar
Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd (PAMB) has collected a total of RM480,000 from its staff and agency force under its Prudential Caring Fund in aid of the victims of the recent calamities in Sichuan, China and Myanmar.

Bestempire ups Envair stake to 17.84%
Bestempire Ltd, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, has continued to accumulate shares in Envair Holdings Bhd, with the latest acquisition of 5.73 million shares.

June 25, 2008
Goodway counts on China venture and new plant
Goodway Integrated Industries Bhd sees its recent venture into China and the purchase of a plant in Shah Alam lifting its future earnings.

Singapore’s CapitaLand buys 61.9% of Sungei Wang
Singapore’s CapitaLand Ltd has acquired 61.9% of the total retail strata area of Sungei Wang Plaza in Kuala Lumpur for RM595mil (S$250mil).

Big Apple sets sights on Asia-Pacific
Homegrown doughnut franchise Big Apple Donuts & Coffee is on an aggressive expansion drive to become a household name in the Asia-Pacific.

Wah Seong plans to tap N. America by 2012
Wah Seong Corp Bhd plans to tap the gas compression business in North America by 2012.

End of a chapter in Malaysia’s corporate history
Known as Malaysia's steel tycoon, prominent businessman Tan Sri Eric Chia died from heart attack at the age of 74 yesterday.

Country’s first Islamic shipping fund unveiled
Asian Finance Bank Bhd (AFB) and AmanahRaya Investment Bank Ltd, Labuan (ARIBL) has launched the first syariah-compliant shipping fund in Malaysia worth RM1bil.

People-centric jobs going well
The five-year Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) has made progress in people-centred projects, especially in poverty eradication, narrowing the urban-rural gap and also enhancing healthcare and education.

June 20, 2008
Housing sector in challenging times
The housing and construction industry will soon be facing a “crisis” if oil prices and the current inflationary trend continue to soar unchecked, warns Real Estate & Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) vice-president Datuk F.D. Iskandar.

Aussie resource boom to last
Australia’s resource boom is set to last for some time as voracious demand from China and India keeps prices high even as past investment sharply boosts output from the country’s mines, a report said yesterday.

Selling pressure on Resorts World
Resorts World Bhd remains as one of the most highly owned stock by foreigners but the escalating domestic political uncertainty and government policies will continue to spook foreign investors.