KUALA LUMPUR: The market sentiment on the domestic market continued to sour at Monday's opening bell with the key FBM KLCI failing to rebound after six straight sessions of declines.The benchmark index started on a slide, losing 0.89 point to 1,547.62 at the opening bell before turning lower.At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was down 4.07 points to 1,544.44.The downtrend on Bursa Malaysia comes despite a return of foreign investors to the local market. Over the four trading days of the previous week, foreign funds recorded a net weekly inflow of RM126mil.Local retailers registered net buying of RM212mil while domestic institutions net sold RM338mil in local equities.After three straight weeks of losses, the market remains on shaky ground. "There may still be some more downside risk ahead with the bears currently outnumbering the bulls. "After failing to break away from the key 200-day SMA line, the emergence of fresh bearish technical signals triggered by the benchmark index’s crossing back below the upper Bollinger Band, and the %K line of the stochastics indicator cutting under the %D line in the overbought territory, means that the market bellwether will probably face further weakness going forward," said Kenanga Research in its weekly technical outlook.The research house pegged resistance at the former support of 1,550, and immediate support at 1,510.Among blue-chips, Press Metal was down 15 sen to RM5.64, Public Bank dropped five sne to RM4.01 and Petronas Gas fell 48 sen to RM16.90.Top Glove remained under selling pressure following its recent earnings result, sliding six sen to RM3 amid downward revisions in its outlook.Among the few gainers, Axiata was up five sen to RM3.96 and Tenaga Nasional gained three sen to RM9.93.Top actives on the market were KNM up 0.5 sen to 27 sen, Avillion unchanged at 13.5 sen and Focus flat at 5.5 sen.Meanwhile, IGB Commercial REIT approached limit down on its debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia, losing 29.5 sen or 29.5% to 70.5 sen a share as the time of writing.The counter, which has a reference price of RM1 a share, had opened 27 sen lower at 73 sen.

But since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Koppalai has been packing additional items into the families’ food boxes. A former manager at an electronics company in Petaling Jaya, Koppalai has made charity work his full-time job after his retirement in 2008. Initially, charity work might seem daunting but once you get the hang of things, it becomes a way of life,” shared Koppalai. After his retirement, Koppalai used part of his retirement funds to reach out to needy students from plantations in Klang, Carey Island and Morib. These individuals’ appreciation and blessings keep me moving forward to help more needy families,” he said in ending.

Even without a holistic financial plan, you can still continue to put aside your savings. Having had a holistic financial plan done after becoming our client, Tim discovered that his optimum target return should be 8% instead. Mistake four: Neglecting to review your children’s tertiary education fund.Providing quality tertiary education to children is one of the top priorities and concerns of Malaysian parents. This is why reviewing and adjusting your retirement financial planning is critical and should be done every year. If you are serious about growing your hard-earned money and achieving your financial goals, start by getting a holistic financial plan for yourself.

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 18,295,014 individuals or 78.2% of the country’s adult population have been fully vaccinated, according to the Special Committee on Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV). In an infographic on Twitter, JKJAV said 93.1% or 21,938,426 individuals of the adult population had also received at least one dose of the vaccine. It said a total of 232,559 doses were dispensed on Saturday, with 73,106 doses being first dose and 159,453 doses as second doses, bringing the number of jabs to 40,155,975 under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

WATCHING the Olympics and Paralympics can inspire young children to become Olympians themselves. The challenge for many parents is in choosing the right sport for their children. So, how can a parent help a child pick a sport that will best serve his or her needs and interests? Children in the initiation stage of 6 to 10 years should participate in fun and low-intensity training programmes. In designing a training programmes, parents need to emphasize multilateral development by introducing various skills and exercises like running, jumping, catching, throwing, battling, balancing and rolling.

WASHINGTON: U.S. auto safety investigators have opened a new probe into 30 million vehicles built by nearly two dozen automakers with potentially defective Takata air bag inflators, a government document seen by Reuters on Sunday showed. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Friday opened an engineering analysis into an estimated 30 million U.S. vehicles from the 2001 through 2019 model years. StarCarSifuThe 30 million vehicles include both vehicles that had the inflators installed when they were manufactured as well as some inflators that were used in prior recall repairs, NHTSA said in the document. The 30 million vehicles that are part of the new investigation have inflators with a "desiccant" or drying agent. Earlier this year, NHTSA said of the 67 million recalled inflators, approximately 50 million have been repaired or are otherwise accounted for.- Reuters

Lucky to receive years of counselling and mental health support, paid for and supported by the government’s public health system. How a country can maintain that the act of suicide, an act of utter desperation and despair, should continue to receive punishment is beyond me. Decriminalising suicide is not going to solve the issue overnight, but it is about sending signals. Sending signals to those who are struggling with mental health that it is OK to struggle and it is OK to seek help, sending signals to those who survive that what they need is care, support and compassion and not the threat of imprisonment. Sending signals to society that this is an issue which needs to be taken seriously and addressed, but addressed with a compassionate hand not an iron fist.

PETALING JAYA: National squash player Aifa Azman is ready to continue where she left off in April – as a winner. The 20-year-old will participate in the SRAM PSA 5 from Sept 28-Oct 2 and hopes to extend her fine form in the 10K professional tournament. Although the world number 65 knows it won’t be easy, she is just excited to be able to compete again. “Obviously, I want to win again, but I am just going to focus one game at a time. There are many good players like Kah Yan, my sisters Aira and Aika, Ainaa (Amani) and the others.

For the Sudirman Cup, he will play together with All-England champion Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong. 122 Aidil said he was surprised with his inclusion for both team events but promised to play to his true form. Aidil, the former player from Sports Affairs under Datuk Rashid Sidek, only joined the national team when he was 18. “I started my journey with a club and was selected to join the state training. “I’m in better condition now,” added Aidil, who is doing extra training on Sundays to catch-up with the others in the team.

Can the 22-year-old hang on or will he bite the dust too like two-time world junior champion Jin Wei and a few other young winners before him? The 2017 Asian junior champion Jun Hao believes he can persevere until the end in the senior ranks. “I was promoted to the national team four years ago and I believe, I can rise in the senior ranks,” said Jun Hao. Jun Hao hopes to make an impression starting with his second Thomas Cup Finals outing in Aarhus, Denmark, from Oct 9-17. 120 Jun Hao is expected to play as the third singles.

LONDON: More British employers are planning pay rises than at any time since the global financial crisis as they struggle to recruit staff following the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, data from the Confederation of British Industry showed on Monday. The CBI said 44% of businesses intended to raise pay in line with inflation and 24% planned above-inflation pay rises, the highest combined percentage since it started surveying businesses about this in 2009. "Pay intentions are rising across the board as firms reopen and the economy recovers," Matthew Percival, the CBI's director of skills and inclusion said. The prospect of higher prices is likely to concern the Bank of England as its policymakers meet this week. Make UK also criticised a recent government decision to raise employers' social security contributions.- Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has not ruled out seeking re-election to Parliament within the next two years despite a corruption conviction that would block him from running. Speaking to Reuters on Saturday, Najib challenged his disqualification, saying: “It is subject to interpretation. Najib said in the interview that he had discussed with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on a possible role for him in government. He also said Umno’s return to power guaranteed “temporary political stability” and that he would not call for early elections, like he had with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. He also claimed that charges against him were politically motivated, and is pushing for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into former attorney general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, who first brought the cases against him in 2018.

PETALING JAYA: A total of 3.6 million B40 households are set to receive Covid-19 care packages from the government, which will include face masks, self-test kits and pulse oximeters. The Covid-19 Care Package (PPC), said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, was a way to help the B40 families prepare for life when Malaysia entered the endemic phase of the pandemic. “These efforts, among others, are aimed at easing the financial burden of B40 households and to familiarise them with the new norms while also helping to protect their families from the risk of infection. Over RM471.6mil had been set aside for the programme, he said, adding that the initiative was expected to benefit around 3.6 million B40 households. Each family will get four pieces of reusable face masks, four self-test kits, one pulse oximeter, one thermometer and leaflets with health information and user tutorials.

ISKANDAR PUTERI (Sept 19): The Johor government hopes the Home Ministry (KDN) would review the strict conditions of Malaysia My Second Home Programme (MM2H) set recently. He said he had also raised the matter with Finance Minister Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz in a discussion this afternoon. “The situation in Johor is different because we are neighbours with Singapore and the MM2H programme is one of the strengths that gives us many benefits. “So we hope the Home Ministry will not only be able to review the conditions, but also reach a decision immediately. The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar recently expressed his disappointment with the Home Ministry for refusing to review the strict conditions for MM2H.

SEREMBAN (Sept 19): The level of health facility usage in Negeri Sembilan is seen as good currently based on the indicators and this could enable the state to move to Phase Four of the National Recovery Plan (PPN). Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun in his official Facebook post today stated that the indicators included the use of respiratory support equipment and beds at the intensive care units and quarantine centres at below 50% and under 65% respectively. "According to the Health Ministry's Covid-19 portal (covidnow.gov.my), Negeri Sembilan also recorded 2.6 cases per 1,000 people, the second lowest rate in Malaysia and having a bright chance of moving to Phase Four of the PPN," he added. Meanwhile, he said 93.1% or 757,897 of the state’s residents had been full vaccinated, while 823,163 had received the first dose of the vaccine up to yesterday. Aminuddin also advised the public to continue adhering to the standard operating procedures (SOP) to enable Negeri Sembilan to move to Phase Four of the PPN soon, hence enabling revival of the people and state’s economy.