Written by Ellina Badri
Friday, 09 April 2010 08:01
KUALA LUMPUR: Sentiment could perk up on Friday, April 9, after US stocks closed higher overnight, lifted by surprisingly strong March retail sales, raising hopes the US economic recovery is on track.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 29.55 points, or 0.27 percent, to 10,927.07. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 3.99 points, or 0.34 percent, to 1,186.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 5.65 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,436.81.
Stocks to watch on Friday are KNM GROUP BHD [], JAKS Resources Bhd, glove makers, MTD CAPITAL BHD [], pharmaceutical companies like CCM DUOPHARMA BIOTECH BHD [], LONDON BISCUITS BHD [] and TPC PLUS BHD [] and.
KNM Group Bhd's major shareholder and managing director Lee Swee Eng may have faced another setback in his bid, together with two foreign parties, for the oil and gas fabricator's business in the wake of the conditions attached to a RM1.4 billion tax incentive.
JAKS Resources Bhd has signed a US$2 billion deal to build two 600MW coal-fired power plants in Vietnam. The Hai Duong thermal power plant would be developed under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) structure and run as an independent power plant with a 25-year power purchase agreement with Electricity of Vietnam.
Glove makers could see more trading interest again after 60 confirmed cases of the influenza H1N1 cases have been hospitalised. Stocks to watch include Top Glove, Supermax and Adventa.
London Biscuits, which had in March bought a 32% stake in poultry-based TPC Plus Bhd, made a voluntary take-over offer for the remaining shares for RM16.32 million cash, or 30 sen a share.
However, this was only a slight premium of 2.63% over the five-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) price of TPC shares of 28.95 sen up to April 7, and a price-to-book value of 0.75 times.
MTD Capital Bhd, which has just emerged from a battle over the control of the operation of the South Luzon Expressway, has received a toll operating permit for Project toll roads 1 and 2 of the SLEX.
The permit was issued by the Philippines’ Toll Regulatory Board in favour of Manila Toll Expressway Systems Inc, MTD’s associate.
BIMB HOLDINGS BHD []’s unit, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Farihan Corp Sdn Bhd to provide Ar-Rahn, or Islamic pawn-broking, services. The MoU is to enable Bank Islam’s subscription of new shares in Farihan Corp.
Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) will list its petroleum chemicals business and its heavy engineering arm, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd (MMHE). MMHE is a unit of MISC BHD [].
LPI CAPITAL BHD [] kicked off the first quarter earnings season for the period ended March 31. LPI, whose subsidiaries provide insurance underwriting services, recorded net profit of RM38.3 million this year, up 8% from a year ago.
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd received the Securities Commission's approval for its proposed dual-listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
