HDBSVR expects market sentiment to perk up, boost from Wall St

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 17): HwangDBS Vickers Research (HDBSVR) expects market sentiment to perk up on Friday after the stronger overnight close on Wall Street.

Key U.S. equity indices climbed between 1.0% and 1.5% at the closing bell on account of positive economic reports (jobless claims fell while housing starts rose) and hopes that Greece remains on track to receive international financial aid.

“This is expected to lift investors’ sentiment on our Malaysian bourse today. The benchmark FBM KLCI – after losing 10.8-point or 0.7% yesterday – could attempt to overcome the support-turned-resistance line of 1,555 ahead,” it said.

HDBSVR said the big caps which were likely to ride on a market rebound on Friday include CIMB and Maxis.

“In the small-mid cap space, of probable interest could be: (a) Tasek Corporation, which has just declared a final-cum-special net dividend per share of 60 sen (implying a net yield of 7.5% at the current share price of RM8.00); (b) Extol MSC, in response to a local news article speculating that a corporate exercise might be brewing following recent boardroom and shareholding changes; (c) Uzma, after winning an oil & gas contract worth RM350 million; and (d) Dataprep, as one media report said it is close to securing a IT contract in China valued at RM600 million,” it said.



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Extol at 3-month high, 10.3% stake crossed off-market

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 10): Shares of ACE Market listed EXTOL MSC BHD [] rose in very active trade while 10.3% of its shares issued were traded in several off-market deals on Friday.

Stock market data showed that 10.81 million shares were transacted at an average price of 19 sen each.

At 11.45, shares of Extol rose to a near three-month high of 23.5 sen, up 2.5 sen.

Extol provides anti-virus applications software and ICT security solutions.



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Extol MSC falls on share placement pricing

Extol MSC Bhd, a provider of anti-virus software, fell 2.9 percent to 17 sen in Kuala Lumpur trading at 9.42am, set for its biggest fall since Jan. 26.

The company priced its placement shares at 15 sen each, a 10 percent discount to its five-day volume-weighted average market price, according to a filing to the exchange. -- Bloomberg



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Market Commentary

The FBM KLCI index gained 13.16 points or 0.89% on Thursday. The Finance Index increased 1.30% to 13328.34 points, the Properties Index up 0.55% to 961.37 points and the Plantation Index rose 1.66% to 7817.63 points. The market traded within a range of 18.11 points between an intra-day high of 1502.53 and a low of 1484.42 during the session.

Actively traded stocks include WIJAYA-WA, COMPUGT, UTOPIA, MBFHLDG-WA, EXTOL, KBUNAI, HUBLINE, GPRO, UTOPIA-WA and VERSATL. Trading volume increased to 1662.28 mil shares worth RM1792.95 mil as compared to Wednesday’s 1534.36 mil shares worth RM2024.33 mil.

Leading Movers were IOICORP (+17 sen to RM5.18), PBBANK (+20 sen to RM12.74), PETCHEM (+18 sen to RM6.17), MAYBANK (+9 sen to RM8.39) and DIGI (+8 sen to RM3.60). Lagging Movers were AXIATA (-17 sen to RM4.93), GENTING (-26 sen to RM10.70), GENM (-3 sen to RM3.88), MAXIS (-1 sen to RM5.49) and PLUS (-1 sen to RM4.44). Market breadth was positive with 513 gainers as compared to 280 losers.


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KL shares higher at mid-afternoon

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-afternoon today as the bullish momentum continued following positive developments in the eurozone, dealers said.

At 3pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,485.96, up 0.94 per cent or 13.86 points, mostly boosted by gains in finance stocks. It had opened 14.82 points higher at 1,486.92.

The positive local bourse was in line with regional markets as investors' risk appetite continued to improve, following joint action from the world's leading central banks to inject liquidity into the global financial system.

Central banks in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Switzerland took coordinated action to lower the cost of US dollar borrowings in a global effort to ease Europe's sovereign-debt crisis.

A dealer said while the move will boost confidence on the local bourse, the impact would be short-term, as there is still a lack of strong drivers to move the market.

The dealer said this was seen as the key FBM KLCI traded in a tight range of 1,485 after breaking the 1,500 mark earlier.

On Bursa Malaysia, advancers led decliners by 531 to 242 while 252 counters were unchanged. Volume stood at 1.09 billion shares worth RM1.16 billion.

The Finance Index advanced 167.06 points to 13,324.82, the Plantation Index jumped 126.50 points to 7,816.52 and the Industrial Index gained 36.45 points to 2,671.66.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Emas Index perked 90.97 points to 10,154.96 and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Mid 70 Index added 76.01 points to 10,995.10.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Ace Index, however, slipped 4.06 points to 4,131.06. Among active counters, 1 Utopia rose one sen to nine sen, Extol MSC was up two sen to 19.5 sen while Compugates lost half sen to 8.5 sen.

As for the heavyweights, Maybank advanced nine sen to RM8.39, Sime Darby increased three sen to RM9.03 and CIMB added five sen to RM7.19. -- Bernama



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FBM KLCI continues upward trend at midday

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia continued the upward momentum at midday today after the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) broke past the resistance level of 1,490, dealers said.

The key index ended the morning session higher by 1.52 per cent or 22.32 points at 1,494.42, mostly boosted by gains in finance stocks. The FBM KLCI had opened 14.82 points higher at 1,486.92 this morning.

A dealer said finance stocks continued to support the FBM KLCI amid the spillover effect of news that the world's leading central banks had acted jointly to inject much-needed liquidity into the global financial system.

Central banks in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom,Canada, Japan and Switzerland, agreed to cut the cost of existing dollar swap lines by 50 basis points from next Monday, in a bid to help European banks hurting as a result of the euro zone debt crisis.

Furthermore, the dealer said, upbeat US data also helped spark a massive rally in risk assets, suggesting the economic recovery to be more stable than thought.

However, the dealer said the local bourse could remain steady in a tight range given that the FBM KLCI could not sustain its 1,500 level after breaking past 1,502.53 earlier.

On Bursa Malaysia, the market sentiment remained positive with 529 advancers and 201 decliners while 259 counters were unchanged.

Volume stood at 946.87 million shares worth RM1.02 billion.

The Finance Index surged 228.93 points to 13,386.69, the Plantation Index jumped 137.87 points to 7,827.89 and the Industrial Index increased 48.23 points to 2,683.44.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Emas Index advanced 132.70 points to 10,196.69, the FTSE Malaysia Mid 70 Index perked 90.04 points to 11,009.13 and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Ace Index was 4.79 points higher at 4,139.91.

Volume leaders, 1 Utopia, rose 1 sen to 9 sen, Extol MSC gained 2 sen to 19.5 sen while Compugates declined 0.5 sen to 8.5 sen.

As for heavyweights, Maybank advanced 15 sen to RM8.45, Sime Darby was up 4 sen to RM9.04 and CIMB jumped 12 sen to RM7.26. -- Bernama



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FBM KLCI at one-month high at mid-morning

Improving risk appetite pushed the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to a one-month high at mid-morning today, dealers said.

At 10.45am, the key index advanced 1.7 per cent or 25.02 points to 1,497.12 after opening 14.82 points higher at 1,486.92.

The 1,490-point level was last seen on Oct 31.

Market breadth was bullish with 477 gainers and 154 losers with 571.52 million shares valued at RM581.44 million changing hands.

A dealer said risk appetite surged across the globe after the world's leading central banks acted jointly to inject much-needed liquidity into the global financial system.

Central banks in the US, Europe, UK, Canada, Japan and Switzerland have agreed to cut the cost of existing US dollar swap lines by 50 basis points from next Monday in a bid to help European banks hurt as a result of euro zone debt crisis.

Sentiment was further supported by news of China's central bank cutting the reserve requirement ratio for its commercial lenders for the first time in three years to ease credit strains and shore up the slowing economic growth.

On Bursa Malaysia, the Finance Index surged 250.77 points to 13,408.53, the Plantation Index jumped 129.99 points to 7,820.01 and the Industrial Index gained 42.82 points to 2,678.03.

The FBM Emas Index advanced 146.51 points to 10,210.50, the FBM Mid 70 Index perked 100.38 points to 11,019.47 and the FBM Ace Index added 11.25 points to 4,146.37.

Among volume leaders, Extol MSC rose 2 sen to 19.5 sen, 1 Utopia was 1 sen higher at 9 sen while Hubline declined 0.5 sen to 9.0 sen.

As for heavyweights, Maybank advanced 17 sen to RM8.47, Sime Darby gained 3 sen to RM9.03 and CIMB jumped 15 sen to RM7.29. -- Bernama



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KLCI extends gains for third day, Hang Seng surges 5%

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 1): The FBM KLCI extended its gains for the third day running on Thursday, in line with the strong close at Wall Street and firmer start at key regional markets.

Asian markets were buoyed on Thursday after central banks stepped up moves to prevent a global credit crunch, and China, the biggest consumer of Australian resources, cut the cash banks must keep as reserves, according to Reuters.

The FBM KLCI rose 18.16 points to 1,490.26 at mid-morning, lifted by gains at blue chip stocks.

Gainers led losers by 460 to 102, while 192 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 433.23 million shares valued at RM384.94 million.

At the regional markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged 5.17% to 18,919.24, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.72% to 1,916.23, Taiwan’s Taiex added 3.31% to 7,132.35, Singapore’s Straits Times Index was up 2.39% to 2,767.16, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.15% to 8,615.57 and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.14% to 2,383.39.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd head of retail research and chief chartist Lee Cheng Hooi in a note to clients said that due to the US markets’ surge last night, it would be another firm day for the local index.

Some local nibbling of beaten-down blue chips stocks (like finance stocks) would be obvious today, he said.

From the recent 1,310.53 low to the 1,493.28 high, the index had managed to hold above the key 38.2% retracement level of 1,424.18, he said.

This would be a platform for the index to rebound in the coming weeks, he said.

“The present price move is set-up for a firm test of 1,493.28 again.

“If the index can exceed 1,493.28, then a test of the 1,500 level and 1,510.54 would follow,” said Lee.

On Bursa Malaysia, BAT was the top gainer at mid-morning and rose RM1.46 to RM47.96; PPB added 68 sen to RM16.74, Shell 63 sen to RM9.98, Nestle 60 sen to RM52.50, HLFG 40 sen to RM11.80, United PLANTATION []s 34 sen to RM18.94, Hong Leong Bank and KLK 28 sen each to RM10.74 and RM21.78, MISC 25 sen to RM6.13 while Dutch Lady added 22 sen to RM24.32.

Extol was the most actively traded counter with 27.5 million shares done. The stock added 2.5 sen to 20 sen.

Other actives included Hubline, YGL, PJI, Compugates, GPRO, Patimas and Karambunai.

Meanwhile, the decliners at mid-morning included P.I.E., Lafarge Malayan Cement, Axiata, Genting, IJM Corp, MSM and Malaysia Smelting Corp.



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KL shares easier in early trade

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened lower in early trading today in tandem with losses in regional markets on continuing concerns the euro zone debt crisis may spread to more countries in the 27-member European Union, dealers said.

However, penny stocks shares bucked the weak market sentiments on strong buying support.

As at 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 3.19 points to 1,451.21 after opening 2.64 points lower at 1,451.76.

The Finance Index lost 14.31 points to 12,974.48, the Plantation Index shed 14.05 points to 7,600.59 and the Industrial Index declined 8.63 points to 2,664.55.

The FBM Emas Index slid 18.28 points to 9,967.27, the FBM70 Index fell 3.53 points to 10,924.79, the FBM Top 100 Index dwindled 17.479 points to 9,767.83 but the FBM ACE Index rose 23.04 points to 4,218.96.

Decliners led advancers 138 to 91 while 140 counters were unchanged, 1,112 untraded and 36 others suspended. Total volume stood at 119.758 million shares worth RM47.090 million.

Actives, Compugates Holdings earned half a sen to 8.5 sen, Fast Track Solution also gained half a sen to 11 sen, Flonic Hi-Tech added 2.5 sen to 29.5 sen and Extol MSC was up half a sen to 26 sen.

Heavyweights, Maybank lost one sen to RM8.24, CIMB eased one sen to RM6.86, Sime Darby lost six sen to RM8.84 but RHB Capital gained three sen to RM7.32. -- Bernama



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