Written by Daniel Khoo
Tuesday, 30 March 2010 07:55
KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips are expected to advance on Tuesday, March 30, as investor sentiment stays steady after the firm close on Wall Street and ahead of the release of the New Economic Model by the Prime Minister.
On Wall Street, US stocks rose on Monday, as miners and energy companies advanced on dollar weakness and investors bought recent high fliers as the quarter's end approached.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 45.50 points, or 0.42 percent, to 10,895.86 -- it's highest close since September 2008. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 6.63 points, or 0.57 percent, to 1,173.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 9.23 points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,404.36.
At Bursa Malaysia, several corporations are expected to meet fund managers and the media to explain their growth strategy at the two-day Invest Malaysia conference.
Stocks to watch on Tuesday include SP Setia, RAMUNIA HOLDINGS BHD [], LITYAN HOLDINGS BHD [], PJI HOLDINGS BHD [] and timber stocks. Also on the watch list are PROTON HOLDINGS BHD [], Ho Hup CONSTRUCTION [] Co Bhd, MALTON BHD [], IPMUDA BHD [] and DIS TECHNOLOGY [] Holdings Bhd.
S P Setia is buying a 1.07 acres of land in Melbourne's Central Business District for A$30 million or RM92.4 million to undertake a high-density inner-city integrated residential and commercial project.
Lityan Holdings Bhd's CEO Nor Badli Munawir Mohamad Alias Lafti is slated to take over at the helm of Ramunia Holdings Bhd and run the company for pilgrim fund Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) as part of a much larger restructuring scheme, industry sources said.
PJI has proposed halving its paid-up capital to RM40.6 million comprising 406.05 million shares of 10 sen each and a subsequent renounceable rights issue of up to 203.02 million shares with up to 304.53 million free detachable warrants at an indicative price of 11 sen each.
Any talks involving foreign equity participation in Proton Bhd will have to be based on a win-win situation, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The new board of directors of Ho Hup will meet with Malton on Tuesday to re-negotiate the joint development agreement (JDA) concerning the former's only remaining landbank and its jewel, a 60-acre parcel in Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur.
Ipmuda Bhd’s share price gained 16.5 sen or 20.5% to 97 sen on Monday. Trading volume on the generally illiquid counter was relatively high as well, with some 770,200 shares traded the previous trading day.
Over the past three trading days, Ipmuda’s stock has gained some 27 sen or 38.6% with higher than usual trading volume, hitting its highest level since July last year.
Last week, Num Din Naim emerged as a substantial shareholder in the company with 9.6 million shares or almost 13.3% in the company, after buying some 7.4 million shares.
ASTRO ALL ASIA NETWORKS PLC []'s unit, Measat Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd (MBNS), has successfully migrated to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA) licensing regime.
BOLTON BHD [] subsidiary Bolton LYL Sdn Bhd is proposing to acquire a 5.5-acre piece of freehold land in Taman Maluri here from Intrapuri Sdn Bhd for RM39 million, funding it thorough internal funds and bank borrowings.
DIS Technology appointed Messrs Wan Nadzir & Co as investigative auditors to probe a suspected RM131 million cross-border fraud case involving the company and a staff of a major customer in Hong Kong.