Written by Joseph Chin
Saturday, 16 October 2010 20:02
KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets are expected to start off the new week on Monday, Oct 18 on a stronger note after tech stocks pushed Wall Street to a higher close.
The announcement and firm commitment by the Malaysian Government to push ahead with several infrastructure projects would provide the impetus to infrastructure companies after the cautious trading session last Friday.
At Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Friday, after stronger earnings from Google sent the Nasdaq up over 1%. However, uncertainty surrounding major banks' exposure to foreclosure losses dragged the Dow lower.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 31.79 points, or 0.29%, to 11,062.78. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 2.38 points, or 0.20%, to 1,176.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 33.39 points, or 1.37%, to 2,468.77.
The S&P 500 hit a session high around 1,180 for a third straight day, a level that could become technical resistance moving forward, according to Reuters.
Stocks to watch on Monday include GW Plastics Holdings Bhd, PLUS EXPRESSWAYS BHD [], MMC Corp Bhd, GAMUDA BHD [] and oil and gas-related companies.
GW Plastics is one of the largest manufacturers of flexible plastic packaging in Malaysia, its public tranche was oversubscribed by 3.7 times. Its offer price was 76 sen and RHB Research accorded it a fair value of 90 sen.
PLUS resumes trading on Monday after it received an offer from UEM Group Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) as joint offerors to acquire all its business and undertakings , including assets and liabilities for RM23 billion or RM4.60 per share cash.
UEM and EPF said in a joint statement on Friday, Oct 15 they would set up a co-investment vehicle to make the offer to PLUS. The co-investment vehicle will be 51% owned by UEM Group, with the remaining 49% owned by EPF.
MMC Corp and Gamuda will be in focus after the firm commitment by the government to go ahead with the Mass Rapid Transit in Greater KL which will be implemented beginning 2011. This project will entail an estimated private investment of RM40 billion.
Oil and gas counters will see trading interest as the government stays focused on the sector. The government will allocate RM146 million to support the sector.
Among the projects to be carried out include the establishment of the oil field services and equipment sector in Johor with private investment of RM6 billion over 10 hyears.
Petronas will implement a regasification project with an investment of RM3 billion in Melaka which will be operational in 2012.