KL shares open on strong note

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia were higher in active trading early Friday morning as investors bet on a 2012 bounce, dealers said.

After 10 minutes of trading, the underlying FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,510.57, up 3.88 points or 0.26 per cent, led by selected heavyweights especially plantation counters.

It opened 3.98 points higher at 1,510.67.

Market sentiment was also fueled by positive signals out of the US and Asian markets with trading remaining in the positive territory on the last trading day of the year.

HwangDBS Vickers Research said the local bourse could extend its six-day rising streak, which has seen the market chalk up cumulative gains of 41.5 points or 2.9 per cent.

On Bursa Malaysia, the Finance Index gained 13.16 points to 13,436.92, the Plantation Index expanded 23.64 points to 8,111.96 and the Industrial Index added 12.45 points to 2,733.52.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Emas Index climbed 24.41 points to 10,372.36, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Mid 70 Index increased 14.62 points to 11,501.39 and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Ace Index rose 4.82 points to 4,073.08.

Trading was positive with gainers outnumbering losers 137 to 37 while 120 counters were unchanged, 1,476 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Volume stood at 66.75 million worth RM63.5 million.

Among the active counters, Mulpha was one sen higher at 39.5 sen, LFE Corporation perked 1.5 sen to 21 sen and Scomi Marine added 4.5 sen to 41 sen.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB rose one sen each to RM8.33 and RM7.17 respectively, while Sime Darby gained five sen to RM9.05. -- Bernama



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OSK Research: LFE Corp may trade higher after peaking at 27.5 sen

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 29): OSK Retail Research said LFE Corp’s share price may trade higher if it can hold above the short-term support level.

It said on Thursday the stock had been trending higher since early-October, which has culminated in a peak of 27.5 sen three weeks ago.

After the strong move, the stock has been consolidating the gains, correcting exactly 62% of the September-December rally at 14.5 sen.

OSK Research said with LFE share price holding at 14.5 sen in the past four days suggested buying support, possibly nullifying the downside bias of the prior “Black” candles.

“But the new up-leg can only be confirmed on a close above the four-day high of 16.5 sen and when this happens, a purchase can then be made. Otherwise, an aggressive trade may enter now in anticipation of a bottom,” it said.

OSK Research said a stop-loss point was at the recent low of 14.5 sen. The first target is the year high of 27.5 sen and a strong move could see the price testing the two-year high of 38.5 sen.

However, the research house said a close below 14.5 sen would see the continuation of selling that started on Dec 12, while a close below the 10.5 sen support might spell the end of the rally.



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KL shares firmer at mid-day

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session in positive territory today with continued gains seen in selected bluechips, dealers said.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up 11.72 points to 1,471.85, after opening 3.6 points higher at 1,463.73.

A dealer said the uptrend on the local bourse was in line with key regional markets, following a firmer overnight close on Wall Street as well as positive sentiment from the European region.

Risk appetite also improved on fresh optimism that the eurozone debt crisis could be contained after the pact reached by the European countries for deeper economic integration and a proposal to increase the rescue fund's size.

The Finance Index rose 120.271 points to 13,061.16 and the Plantation Index jumped 58.41 points to 7,919.1 while the Industrial Index added 11.1 points to 2,661.06.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Emas Index increased 74.141 points to 10,073.69, the Ace Index gained 15.45 points to 4,189.9 and the Mid 70 Index went up 79.14 points to 10,994.85.

Gainers led losers 336 to 250 while 290 counters were unchanged with 601 untraded and 18 others suspended. Trading volume stood at 874.853 million shares valued at RM493.640 million.

For the actives, 1 Utopia Bhd-WA and 1 Utopia Bhd were unchanged at five sen and 11.5 sen respectively, Proton Holding - CG went up five sen to 36 sen and LFE Corp Bhd perked 4.5 sen to 27 sen while Compugates Holdings Bhd lost a sen to six sen.

Among heavyweights, Maybank added three sen to RM8.18, CIMB rose 11 sen to RM7, Sime Darby climbed a sen to RM8.91, Petronas Chemicals increased nine sen to RM6.09 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd gained three sen to RM5.56. -- Bernama



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LFE Corp continues to be traded actively

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9): LFE CORPORATION BHD [] shares continued to be traded actively on Friday, a day after the company had replied to a Bursa Malaysia Securities query that there was no material corporate development relating to its business that may have accounted for the unusual market activity (UMA) involving its shares on Dec 7.

At 9.30am, LFE Corp was up 3.5 sen with 6.99 million shares done.

The company had on Thursday said the UMA on Dec 7 could have been caused by its announcement on Dec 6 of the acquisitions of 5.7 million and 6.1 million shares respectively by Liew Teow Woon and Liew Chee Woon respectively on Dec 1, 2011.

The company said Lew Mew Choi had informed it that he disposed the said shares to Teow Woon and Chee Woon.

“Lew Mew Choi has further informed that he will provide the Company with a duly executed Form 29C (Notice of Person Ceasing to be a Substantial Shareholder) soonest possible and thereafter, the company will make the relevant announcement accordingly.

“Save for the above, the board of LFE Corp is unaware of any rumour or report concerning the business and affairs of the group that may account for the unusual market activity,” it said.



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Bursa Securities queries LFE Corp

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd has issued an unusual market activity query over the trading of LFE CORPORATION BHD []'s shares on Wednesday.

The regulator said on Wednesday the query was due to the sharp rise in price and high trading volume in LFE Corp’s shares.

LFE Corp rose 9.5 sen to 22.5 sen with 67.2 million shares traded.



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Market Commentary

The FBM KLCI index gained 2.07 points or 0.14% on Wednesday. The Finance Index increased 0.38% to 13233.15 points, the Properties Index up 0.64% to 957.73 points and the Plantation Index rose 0.44% to 7882.82 points. The market traded within a range of 9.31 points between an intra-day high of 1482.99 and a low of 1473.68 during the session.

Actively traded stocks include PAVREIT, WIJAYA-WA, SANICHI, LFECORP, RA, UTOPIA-WA, PROTON-CG, COMPUGT, MACRO-WA and UTOPIA. Trading volume decreased to 2088.21 mil shares worth RM1770.42 mil as compared to Tuesday’s 2261.26 mil shares worth RM1304.55 mil.

Leading Movers were AXIATA (+14 sen to RM5.09), CIMB (+11 sen to RM7.20), MAYBANK (+10 sen to RM8.30), GAM (+15 sen to RM3.40) and KLK (+48 sen to RM22.16). Lagging Movers were TENAGA (-19 sen to RM5.46), IOICORP (-6 sen to RM5.12), PETCHEM (-8 sen to RM6.08), DIGI (-4 sen to RM3.62) and PBBANK (-6 sen to RM12.66). Market breadth was positive with 445 gainers as compared to 304 losers. -- JF Apex Securities Bhd



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KL shares lower at mid-afternoon

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) continued to decline at midafternoon today against a mixed backdrop, with selected bluechips weighing in on the market due to the soft sentiment, dealers said.

As at 3pm, the benchmark index dropped 5.34 points to 1,475.58, with losses led by Proton and Malaysia Airports. It had opened 0.33 of a point lower at 1,480.59.

However, global stocks rose on hopes that European leaders would agree to beef up the region's financial rescue ahead of the European Union Summit later this week, the dealers said.

The Finance Index lost 55.03 points to 13,128.47 and the Industrial Index declined 6.6 points to 2,673.42, while the Plantation Index increased 12.98 points to 7,861.04.

The FBM Emas eased 30.13 points to 10,092.96, the FBM 70 Index dropped 34.351 points to 10,964.51 and the FBM Ace Index was 13.56 points higher at 4,238.11.

Gainers led losers 347 to 297 while 286 counters were unchanged with a total volume of 1.343 billion shares worth RM824.530 million traded.

Among active stocks, Pavilion Real Estate gained 10 sen to RM1, Sanichi earned 3.5 sen to 20.5 sen, Wijaya Baru-WA went up five sen to 38 sen and LFE Corporation rose 11.5 sen to 24.5 sen.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank eased three sen to RM8.17, Sime Darby dropped one sen to RM8.94, CIMB edged down six sen to RM7.03 and Petronas Chemicals slipped one sen to RM6.07. -- Bernama



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KL shares mixed in early trade

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia were somewhat mixed in the early trading today as investors remained cautiously optimistic ahead of the European Union Summit later this week.

Twenty-two minutes after the opening, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM KLCI) lost 0.86 points to 1,480.06, with losses mostly seen in Proton. Earlier, the benchmark index opened 0.33 points lower at 1,480.59.

The Finance Index dwindled 30.99 points to 13,152.51, the Plantation Index eased 10.25 points to 7,837.81 and the Industrial Index slipped 1.23 points to 2,678.79. The FBM Emas Index slid 2.399 points to 10,120.69, the FBM Mid 70 Index was 0.16 points lower at 10,998.7 but the FBM ACE Index gained 49.84 points to 4,274.39.

Advancers led decliners 149 to 78 while 153 counters were unchanged, 1,106 untraded and 24 others were suspended. Turnover stood at 261.173 million shares worth RM145.514 million.

HWANGDBS Vickers Research said it expects investors on the local bourse to stay on the sidelines following the dearth of newsflow. The key benchmark index may continue to trade within a tight range, likely on a slight downward bias and trend closer to its immediate 1,475 support level, it said in a research note today.

Actives, Pavilion Real Estate added 10 sen to RM1, R&A Telecommunications earned 2.5 sen to 14.5 sen and LFE Corporation gained 13.5 sen to 20.5 sen.

For heavyweights, Maybank, Sime Darby and Petronas Chemicals, were unchanged at RM8.20, RM8.95 and RM6.08, respectively, while CIMB shed 4.0 sen to RM7.05. -- Bernama



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Emico suspended as stock price doubles

KUALA LUMPUR: Trading for yesterday’s top gainer Emico Holdings Bhd’s stock was suspended but not before the stock almost doubled in value.

The penny stock jumped 97.5% from 20 sen to 39.5 sen in 4½ hours of trading before trading was halted at 3.35pm.

The price spike, which began at 9.26am, saw a total of 89.36 million shares traded. The traded volume amounted to a significant 93% of Emico’s issued share capital of 95.93 million shares.

The controlling Lim family and two other shareholders collectively own about 36% of the company, according to its 2010 annual report.

As at April 29, the Lim family collectively held about 21.5% of the company, while Affin Bank Bhd held 7.4% and Danaharta Urus Sdn Bhd owned 7.3%.

The company is headed by executive chairman Lim Teik Hian.

Emico was the fifth most actively traded counter on Bursa Malaysia yesterday. Prior to yesterday’s surge in volume, its year-to-date average daily traded volume was just 17,010 shares.

Bursa had queried Emico earlier yesterday about the unusual jump in its share price and volume. Emico’s board of directors managed to respond on the same day before the suspension of the trading of the stock and announced that they were unaware of the cause of the unusual market activity (UMA).

The company is involved in the manufacture of trophies, trading of furniture and property development.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010, it posted a net profit of RM1.05 million, down from RM1.25 million in FY09. For the first six months of 2011, Emico slipped into the red with a net loss of RM585,000.

Another company that was queried for UMA yesterday was Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, which rose 1.96% to 78 sen on the back of 63.11 million shares traded to be the sixth most active counter. The traded volume represented 15.09% of Hibiscus’ total issued shares.

The UMA query came a few hours into trading when Hibiscus’ share price climbed 2.6% to a record 78.5 sen at 11.32am following a 17.7% jump on Tuesday.
Hibiscus warrants topped the most actively traded list with 1.62 billion units.

The oil and gas special purpose acquisition company (Spac) had agreed to buy a 35% stake in Lime Petroleum Plc for US$55 million (RM171.05 million) last month.

It responded to Bursa’s query, highlighting the Lime Petroleum deal and crude oil futures hitting a 3-month high on Nov 7 of above US$95 per barrel, as possible reasons for the surge in the price and trading volume of its shares.

Another penny stock that made huge gains was Dataprep Holdings Bhd which rose sharply by 75% to 42 sen from 24 sen on a volume of 91.49 million shares, which represented 23.99% of its total issued shares. The IT company was the fourth most actively traded stock yesterday.

On a broader note, penny stocks made up 24 of the 28 most actively traded stocks by volume on the local exchange yesterday. With the exception of Harvest Court Industries Bhd, the top 28 percentage gainers in the market yesterday were also all penny stocks, with a share price of less than RM1 each.

An analyst pointed out that this was indicative of the highly speculative behaviour in the market with some investors trying to take advantage of the low-price and small-cap stocks to make huge margins.

Meanwhile, Harvest Court continued its ascent, gaining 22.88% to close at RM1.45 yesterday with 24.21 million shares traded.

The top five gainers yesterday were Emico (97.5%), followed by Dataprep Holdings Bhd (75%), Edaran Bhd (36.67%), PUC Founder MSC Bhd (33.33%) and LFE Corp Bhd (30.43%).


This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, November 10, 2011.