Malaysia Hot Stocks - Factors to watch

KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 (Reuters) - Here are news stories that may affect the Malaysian stock market on Thursday.

MALAYSIA'S SCOMI TARGETS MID-EAST MONORAIL MARKET -PAPER

- Malaysian builder and engineer Scomi Group (SCOI.KL) aims to penetrate the Middle East market for monorail systems within six months, the Star newspaper reported on Thursday, quoting Hilmi Zaini, president of the group's Star Engineering unit.

GOVT MAY SHOULDER COOKING OIL SUBSIDY -PAPER

- Oil palm planters may heave a sigh of relief as the government may scrap a cooking oil subsidy for which they are currently paying, the Business Times newspaper said on Thursday, quoting Commodities Minister Peter Chin as saying a decision would be made by the end of next month.

MALAYSIA'S AFFIN ON EXPANSION TRAIL -PAPER

- Malaysia's Affin Holdings (AFIN.KL), owner of Affin Bank, is ready to expand and could spend about a tenth of shareholders' funds to buy a bank at home or in the region, the Business Times said, quoting Managing Director Abdul Hamidy Hafiz, with Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia seen as good regional prospects.

MALAYSIA'S LANDMARKS PLANS CASINOS IN INDONESIA -PAPER

- Malaysia's Landmarks Bhd (LMHS.KL), backed by Asia's largest gambling company, hopes to build Indonesia's first legalised casinos in $3.1 billion project to compete with Las Vegas Sands Corp in Singapore, the Business Times said on Thursday, quoting Chief Operating Officer Lim Boon Soon.

MALAYSIAN BUILDING SOCIETY IN DILIGENCE EXERCISE

- Malaysian Building Society (MBSS.KL) said on Wednesday a due diligence exercise was being held, following a newspaper report it was in talks over the potential entry of a new shareholder, a Middle Eastern consortium. The firm gave no further details in its statement to the stock exchange.

MALAYSIA UEM'S BRIDGE PROJECT TO BE FINISHED LATER

- The construction of a bridge linking Malaysia's northern island state of Penang with the peninsula has been extended for 9 months from April 13, construction firm UEM Builders UEMU.KL said on Wednesday.

MALAYSIA'S ISKANDAR PROJECT ATTRACTS $10.5 BLN

- Malaysia's plans to develop a special economic zone in the country's southern Johor state are on track with investment commitments of 33 billion ringgit ($10.5 billion) to date, officials said on Wednesday.

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