KUALA LUMPUR (March 6): Stocks could retreat on Tuesday as investors take profit after the recent run-up in selected blue chips -- which pushed the FBM KLCI near the all-time high of1,594 -- as sentiment could take a dent following the weaker regional markets and decline on Wall Street.
Stocks on Bursa Malaysia staged a strong performance in February, underpinned by foreign institutional funds, who were net buyers of Malaysian equities. Foreign investors bought RM9.2 billion and sold RM7.9 billion worth of shares in the local market. This translated into a net purchase of RM1.3 billion.
However, local institutional investors were net sellers during the month. They bought RM14.2 billion of equities and sold RM14.7 billion, resulting in a net sale of RM500 million.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks fell on Monday for the second straight session and the third in the last four trading days, led lower by basic materials shares after China trimmed its growth target for 2012.
The Dow Jones industrial average shed 14.76 points, or 0.11 percent, to 12,962.81 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 5.30 points, or 0.39 percent, to 1,364.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 25.71 points, or 0.86 percent, to close at 2,950.48.
At Bursa Malaysia, mong the stocks to watch are TENAGA NASIONAL BHD [] (TNB), AFFIN HOLDINGS BHD [], Ivory PROPERTIES [] Group Bhd, THE MEDIA SHOPPE BHD [] (TMS), ALAM MARITIM RESOURCES BHD [] and C.I. HOLDINGS BHD [].
Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has reiterated that it will not continue selling subsidised gas to TNB for electricity generation this year.
Petronas currently provides subsidies of up to RM20 billion per year to the power industry in the form of natural gas at rates below market prices. It had paid RM108.5 billion in subsidies for TNB since 1997, including RM3.9 billion for the three quarters ended Dec 31, 2011.
Affin expects its plan to set up Islamic banking operations in China to materialise in the second half (2H) of this year. It is also revisiting its plan to acquire an 80% stake in an Islamic bank in Indonesia, P.T. Bank Ina Perdana.
Ivory Properties plans to roll out residential and commercial projects on Penang island with a total gross development value of RM1.4 billion this year. It is targeting some RM800 million of sales in 2012, including on-going projects.
The Media Shoppe Bhd, whose shares were actively traded, said it had declined to take part in the project involving the automatic fare collection system for Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd’s commuter stations.
The company said it was not feasible for it to undertake the project which was awarded by Hopetech Sdn Bhd mainly “due to funding is not available within the required time frame of delivery”.
Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC) has revised the outlook on Alam Maritim Resources Bhd’s Islamic notes from stable to negative following the company’s weaker credit profile.
The ratings agency had affirmed its ratings at AA-IS and MARC-1ID/AA-ID on Alam Maritim’s RM500 million Sukuk Ijarah medium term notes and RM100 million Murabahah commercial papers/Murabahah medium term notes programmes respectively.
MARC said the revised outlook reflected the pressure on Alam Maritim's credit profile arising from significantly weaker earnings and cash flow generation in 2010 and 2011.
In CI Holdings Bhd, the company said its capital repayment of 50 sen per ordinary share would go ex on March 16.
