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 week of waiting and speculation, finally EPF declares 6.15% dividend for the year 2012, which to me it's not bad. A 0.15% higher than the previous year, although still fall short of our expectation of more than seven to eight percent. KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) declared a dividend rate of 6.15 percent for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2012. The dividend rate, an increase of 15 basis points over the 6 percent rate paid out in 2011, translates to a record breaking total of RM27.45bil being distributed to its members, an increase of 12.2 percent over RM24.47bil paid out in the previous year, said EPF Chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman on Sunday. “Notwithstanding the increasingly complex investment environment, the EPF maintained its steady upwards momentum to post its strongest set of results since the turn of the millennium, underpinning the effectiveness of its long term investment strategy as well as its disciplined and prudent approach,” he said in ...