KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday amid mixed regional market performance as investors turned cautious over a possible rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and upcoming US economic data that may influence the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate decision next week. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) pared most earlier losses to settle 4.55 points easier, or 0.28 per cent, to 1,616.52 from Thursday’s close of 1,621.07. The benchmark index, which opened 0.37 of-a-point lower at 1,620.70, moved between 1,609.67 and 1,621.25 throughout the day. The broader market was negative, with decliners outpacing advancers 604 to 439. A total of 550 counters were unchanged, 1,151 untraded, and 18 suspended. Turnover declined to 3.17 billion units worth RM2.24 billion from 4.48 billion units worth RM2.75 billion yesterday. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-presiden...
After a long wait, finally the EPF announced the dividend for the year 2011 and it comes to many surprises at 6% as global economy is too volatile throughout the whole year. Anyway, it is a good news to majority Malaysians as the payout is slightly 0.2% higher than the year before. PETALING JAYA: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Board has declared a dividend of 6% for 2011 the highest in the last 10 years. In a statement yesterday, EPF said the dividend, an increase of 20 basis points over the 5.8% paid out in 2010, translates to RM24.47bil being distributed to its members. “2011 marks another commendable achievement for the EPF. “Despite the challenging investment landscape, it was the strongest performance since 2001 that affirms our long term and prudent investment strategy combined with continuous efforts by our investment team,” said EPF chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman. The dividend payout of the RM24.47bil was derived after deducting net impairment allowance on financial assets...