KLCI hovers in negative territory at mid-morning

KUALA LUMPUR (May 9): The FBM KLCI hovered in negative territory at mid-morning on Wednesday in line with the overnight fall at Wall Street and weaker sentiment at regional markets, underpinned by global economic and political worries.

At 10.01am, the FBM KLCI fell 3.03 points to 1,587.57, weighed by select blue chips.

Gainers trailed losers by 132 to 234, while 219 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 237.19 million shares valued at RM17908 million.

Asian shares fell and the euro stayed pressured on Wednesday, as Greece struggled to form a government two days after elections, raising the risk that a hard-won bailout could be nullified, according to Reuters.

BIMB Securities Research in a note Wednesday said the conditions in Europe was ripe for traders to create some volatility in the equity markets and yesterday could be the beginning of the trend.

With the initial focus on Spain and now the political issues in France and Greece, investors may be in for a roller coaster ride this month, it said.

Reacting to the European uncertainty, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 76.44 points to 12,932 but off its intra-day low of 12,810, it said.

“Needless to say, European bourses took the brunt of yesterday’s selling as all ended up in a sea of red,” it said.

The research house said regional markets had a mixed session possibly from the weak opening in Europe amid the ongoing consolidation mode.

“Locally, the FBM KLCI rebounded by 5.73 points to just above the immediate 1,590 resistance at 1,590.60.

“For today, it will be interesting to gauge the resilience of investors whether they will all jump into the selling bandwagon. For us, we believe there will be some broad based knee jerk reaction and should pressure the FBM KLCI on the downside,” it said.

On Bursa Malaysia at mid-morning, F&N Fell and Petronas Dagangan fell 14 sen each to RM18.90 and RM19.80, Hong Leong Bank and Genting down 12 sen each to RM12.12 and RM10.54, Sarawak PLANTATION []s 11 sen to RM2.92, Rapid and IJM Corp 10 sen each to RM2.57 and RM5.44, while NPC, MAHB and Ajiya lost eight sen each to RM2.60, RM5.71 and RM1.60 respectively.

Permaju was the most actively traded counter with 25.7 million shares done. The stock rose 3.5 sen to 91 sen.

Other actives included Harvest Court, Naim Inda Corp,Perisai, Sanbumi, Metronic, Compugates, JCY and Komark.

Gainers included KGB, Tasek, Komark, KLK, Mercury, CIMB, SKB Shutters, Multico, Perisai and Permaju.



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KLCI remains edgy, limited gains at mid-morning

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 4): The FBM KLCI rose at mid-morning on Wednesday in line with its regional peers, but the gains were limited as investors remained cautious given the continuing concerns over the eurozone debt crisis.

Asian stocks and the euro firmed after upbeat U.S. and European economic data boosted global shares and commodities, according to Reuters.

The FBM KLCI added 5.38 points to 1,518.92 at 10am.

Gainers led losers by 339 to 125, while 230 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 521.62 million shares valued at RM327.52 million.

At the regional markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.32% to 8,566.95, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.15% to 18,904.86, the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.77% to 2,216.39, Taiwan’s Taiex was up 0.78% to 7,108.52 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.79% to 2,706.66.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.02% to 1,875.03.

RHB Research in its market update on Jan 4 said that 2012 starts with the overhanging concerns of 2H 2011, this could be another year of “more of the same”.

However, on a brighter note, it noted the possibility of two market rallies in the near term – “January effect” and “Chinese New Year rally”.

It said that while the January effect had been evident every year for the last 10 years (and had led to a positive annual return in seven of the 10 years), the historical data for the pre-Lunar New Year rally was less conclusive (but the post-festival returns have actually been negative in 7 of the last 10 years).

“Beyond January, we believe 2012 will be influenced by 2011 legacy issues.

“We thus continue to advocate a cautious stance, although we also recommend accumulating fundamentally-robust stocks on weakness for tactical plays with a longer-term view towards the recovery that will undoubtedly follow,” it said.

On Bursa Malaysia, BAT and KLK rose 44 sen each to RM49.88 and RM23.44, United PLANTATION []s 22 sen to RM19.40, Allianz 19 sen to RM4.95, YHS 16 sen to RM2.22, Batu Kawan 14 sen to RM17.64, Ajiya 12 sen to RM1.75, Jaya Tiasa 11 sen to RM7.01 while BHIC and DiGi added nine sen each to RM3.71 and RM3.90.

The actives included HWGB, Maxbiz, JCY, Envair, Karambunai and XDL, while decliners included Asdion, Tradewinds, Hibiscus, Yinson, Harrisons, Sime Darby, Kretam and Tanjung Offshore.



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OSK maintains 'buy' call on Ajiya

OSK Research Sdn Bhd has lowered Ajiya Bhd's net profit forecast by 12.1 per cent and 11 per cent for the financial years 2011 (FY11) and 2012, respectively.

"Ajiya reported nine-month FY11 results that were below our forecast," OSK said in a research note today.

It said Ajiya's revenue and net profit dwindled quarter-on-quarter by 14.5 per cent and 62.1 per cent, respectively, due to slower sales and rising raw material costs.

The research firm said the company continued to face challenges of rising input costs.

Despite lowering the net profit forecast, OSK maintained the positive view on Ajiya for FY12. It also maintained its "buy" recommendation with a lowered fair value (FV) to RM1.94 from RM2.17.

OSK said: "We still think Ajiya is a "buy", given the still significant price upside to our FV, and we still think it should benefit from the projects under the Economic Transformation Programme, which the company has been gearing up for since earlier this year." -- Bernama

KLCI slips at mid-morning on mild profit taking

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI extended its losses at mid-morning on Friday, Oct 21 as investors wary of the eurozone debt crisis took profit ahead of the weekend meeting of European leaders for signs of progress in resolving the region's debt crisis.

Asian shares were mixed, with most bourses gingerly clinging on to mild gains in thin trade.

The FBM KLCI slipped 1.84 points to 1,439.34 at 10am, weighed by losses at select blue chips.

Gainers edged losers by 173 to 167, while 196 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 358.72 million shares valued at RM161.34 million.

At the regional markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.08% to 8,689.04, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index up 0.09% to 17,999.88, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.45% to 1,831.34 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.46% to 2,706.38.

Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.24% to 2,325.66 and Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.28% to 7,224.10.

European leaders said they did not expect Sunday's meeting to give an all-cure solution to the euro zone's debt problems, with regional leaders still sharply divided over how to strengthen a euro zone rescue fund, according to Reuters.

France and Germany said in a joint statement on Thursday that the leaders will discuss in detail a comprehensive solution to the euro zone crisis at the summit on Sunday but no decisions will be adopted before a second meeting to be held by Wednesday at the latest, it said.

BIMB Securities Research in a note Oct 21 said that with Greece already choking on declining liquidity, the European leaders were still deliberating on the finer details of the bailout fund now estimated totalling €1.3 trillion.

Reassurance that more details would be revealed over the next 2 weeks had calmed the nervy investors as Wall Street managed to reverse earlier losses to close 37 points higher despite a sea of red over in Europe, it said.

Asian bourses also saw persistent profit taking as most ended in negative territory yesterday, it said.

“Domestically, the FBM KLCI was rather resilient with some late buying support ending the session 9 points down at 1,441.18.

“We reckon selling may be prevalent again taking cue from the shaky regional bourses. Next support level is seen at 1,430 level,” it said.

Meanwhile, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd head of retail research and chief chartist Lee Cheng Hooi in a note to clients on Oct 21 said due to the US markets’ mixed tone last night, there may be a shaky tone for the local index ahead of the weekend.

“Some profit taking activities could keep the local market softer today,” he said.

On Bursa Malaysia, PPB was the top loser at mid-morning and fell 22 sen to RM16.58; Genting PLANTATION []s fell 10 sen to RM7.39, Petronas Dagangan and DiGi lost 18 sen each to RFM16.10 and RM31.42, MISC and HLFG eight sen each to RM6.62 and RM11.32, Tradewinds Plantations six sen to RM3.19, Ajiya and Genting five sen each to RM1.63 and RM9.95, while Konsortium fell four sen to RM1.22.

Gainers included BAT, United Plantations, YTL Cement, WCT, Bursa, Dolomite, Airasia, Bina Goodyear and Notion Vtec.

The actives included TMS, IRCB, Ingenuity Solutions, Tejari, JCY and YGL.