Written by Joseph Chin
Tuesday, 16 March 2010 08:01
KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips on Bursa Malaysia are expected to start off on a cautious note on Tuesday, March 16 after the benchmark FBM KLCI fell below the 1,300 level on Monday.
The sharp fall in the 30-stock index over the past few days, after surging past the key 1,300 level earlier last week, will make investors nervous as this could display the lack of strong fundamentals.
More selling pressure would see more investors who entered the market early last week, offloading their stocks. If the FBM KLCI falls further, it could trigger more selling.
On Wall Street, US stocks rebounded a bit on a reversal in banking shares after Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd released a proposed financial regulation overhaul bill that investors said did not offer any surprises for the sector, according to Reuters.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 17.46 points, or 0.16 percent, at 10,642.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.52 point, or 0.05 percent, to 1,150.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 5.45 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,362.21.
The euro fell against the dollar, weighed down by a lack of concrete progress on a financial aid package for debt-strapped Greece.
Stocks to watch on Tuesday include ACE-Market listed Genetec TECHNOLOGY [] Bhd, TANJUNG OFFSHORE BHD [], EON CAPITAL BHD [], HONG LEONG BANK BHD [], SCOMI ENGINEERING BHD [], BERJAYA SPORTS TOTO BHD [] (BToto) and HUME INDUSTRIES (M) BHD [].
Genetec should come under the focus of Bursa Malaysia Securities after the unusual market activity of its shares on Monday. It surged to a 52-week high of 73 sen on Monday after its recent announcement of a one-for-one bonus issue, but skidded to close at 48.5 sen.
Genetec designs and develops industrial automated equipment for the manufacturing sectors, were actively traded with 26.78 million shares done.
Tanjung Offshore Bhd has secured long-term contracts from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd to provide two vessels for four and five years and the the contracts are valued at RM114.6 million.
EONCap major shareholder Rin Kei Mei, in a second attempt, has succeeded in pushing through the appointment of seven new directors to the banking group’s board, raising hopes for a new merger proposal with tycoon Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan-controlled Hong Leong Bank.
Scomi Engineering’s subsidiary Scomi Rail Bhd, via a consortium, has been chosen as one of two finalists shortlisted for the CONSTRUCTION [] of the US$1.7 billion (RM5.6 billion) monorail project in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
BToto recorded a net profit of RM97.85 million in its third quarter ended Jan 31, 2010 (3QFY10), flat from RM97.11 million a year ago as a 5.5% lower tax expenses helped cushion the drop in sales. Revenue fell 19.6% to RM850 million.
Measat, a company related to pay-tv operator ASTRO ALL ASIA NETWORKS PLC [], could see trading interest. Astro had on Monday surged as much as 22 sen or 6.32% to RM3.70 within an hour of the opening bell amidst speculation the company is mulling a corporate exercise that could see some cash returned to shareholders. Astro remains suspended until Wednesday.
Spectrum Arrangement Sdn Bhd, which intends to take Hume Industries (M) Bhd private, is revising its offer price to RM4.50 from RM4.30. In a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Spectrum said shareholders who had accepted the original offer would be entitled to receive the revised offer price.
