Business this week (April 6-10)

April 10
— Blue chips extended their rally, as sentiment was boosted by the new Cabinet line-up and strong overnight close on Wall Street. The KLCI closed 23.49 points up at 941.38, the highest since October last year.

— Malaysian Airlines Cargo Sdn Bhd (MasKargo) is waiving its air-to-air and land-to-air cargo transhipment terminal charges for six months effective immediately.

April 9
— The Industrial Production Index (IPI) in February fell 14.7% compared with February 2008, following a sharp contraction in the electrical and electronics products.

— OSK Holdings Bhd’s unit OSK Capital Sdn Bhd said as of March 31, it had give out loans totalling RM176.94 million.

— AmAssurance CEO Ng Lian Lu is looking at a 10% growth in insurance premiums written for its financial year ending March 31, 2010 (FY10) despite the current economic downturn.

— The Securities Commission rejected an appeal from PanGlobal to apply for an extension to implement a restructuring scheme.

April 8
— Agni Energie (AGNI), renewable and alternative clean energy technology provider, received the regional Technology Leadership Award for Renewable and Alternative Power Generation from Frost & Sullivan.

— Al Rajhi Bank became the first Islamic foreign bank in the country to join the MEPS shared ATM network after signing MOU with Malaysian Electronic Payment System (1997) Sdn Bhd.

— Petroliam Nasional, South Africa’s Sasol Ltd and Uzbekistan's national oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz signed an agreement for the Uzbek gas-to-liquids project.

April 7
— Standard Chartered Bank became the first financial institution to seal a portfolio guarantee deal with Credit Guarantee Corporation Bhd (CGC) to extend RM300 million to SMEs.

— Top Glove Corporation Bhd's net profit for its second quarter rose 22% to RM36 million from RM29.5 million a year ago.

— The Finance Ministry announced the issuance of Sukuk Simpanan Rakyat 01/2009 by Bank Negara Malaysia amounting to RM2.5 billion on May 14, 2009.

— Protasco Bhd unit HCM Engineering Sdn Bhd secured a RM10.3 million project from the Public Works Department to shore up the landslide area in Bukit Antarabangsa.

April 6
— M3nergy Bhd's 58% owned Maveric Ltd, listed in Singapore, had its request for an extension to resolve its aborted deal to acquire several oil and gas-related companies rejected.

— BIMB Holdings, the parent of Bank Islam Malaysia, proposed a restricted issue of new shares to its substantial shareholder Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) to raise RM175.4 million, as part of the bank's capital-raising exercise.

— Thailand's Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij announced plans to set up a joint Southeast Asian fund with Malaysia to pool excess foreign exchange reserves to finance infrastructure spending.