Written by Joseph Chin of theedgemalaysia.com
Wednesday, 19 January 2011 06:13
KUALA LUMPUR: Stocks on Bursa Malaysia may advance on Wednesday, Jan 19, spurred by the firmer overnight close on Wall Street where the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a fresh 52-week high in intra-day trade, helping investors to perhaps overcome concerns that the rally may losing some steam.
On Wall Street, US stocks gained on Tuesday, overcoming weak Citigroup results and concerns circling Apple after Chief Executive Steve Jobs' medical leave. Investors focused instead on increased price targets for Google, which reports later this week, and Dow component Caterpillar, whose results are due next week.
The Dow also rose moderately, boosted by gains in Caterpillar Inc. Also lifting the Dow was Boeing Co, after the plane maker alleviated fears about the delivery schedule of its long-delayed 787 Dreamliner jet.
Optimism about earnings has helped bolster stocks in recent weeks, with the S&P 500 posting its seventh straight week of gains on Friday. Aside from Apple, gains were tempered by Citigroup Inc, whose shares fell 6.4 percent to $4.80 after the No. 3 U.S. bank reported a sharp drop in bond trading revenue that pushed profits below expectations.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 50.55 points, or 0.43 percent, to end at 11,837.93. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.78 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,295.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 10.55 points, or 0.38 percent, at 2,765.85.
Earlier, the Dow traded as high intraday as 11,858.78, a fresh 52-week high. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also climbed intraday and closed just slightly below their fresh 52-week highs.
At Bursa Malaysia, stocks to watch include of K. Seng Seng Corporation Bhd, EON CAPITAL BHD [], Axiata Group Bhd, DIGI.COM BHD [] and TENAGA NASIONAL BHD [].
In The Edge FinancialDaily, the sale of a controlling block in Hing Yiap Group Bhd by its major shareholders is a puzzling move, given that the block of shares was sold at a discount to the company's prevailing share price and net asset value.
KNM GROUP BHD [] has received another four-year extension until February 2015 for its term-loan facility secured from MALAYAN BANKING BHD [] (Maybank). The company told Bursa Malaysia yesterday the loan's principal balance outstanding as at Jan 7 was at RM351.33 million.
K. Seng Seng will make its debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday, Jan 19. The supplier of secondary stainless steel products, offered 20.12 million new shares of 50 sen each, priced at 57 sen a share.
EON Capital Bhd’s banking arm EON Bank aims to disburse RM4 billion in car loans this year compared with RM3.6 billion in 2010.
EON Bank chief executive officer Datuk Michael Lor said the bank was able to capitalise on the expected robust car sales to increase the loans. Lor said other factors were a firmer economic growth, tax exemptions for certain car categories, availability of more locally-assembled cars and stronger consumer confidence.
DiGi.Com Bhd and Axiata Group Bhd expect cash savings of about RM2.2 billion combined over 10 years from the long-term collaboration on network infrastructure sharing in Malaysia.
Both parties expect to see incremental savings as early as 2012 and gradually ramping up to an average annual savings of RM150 million to RM250 million combined after 2015.
Tenaga Nasional will announce first quarter results. RHB Research Institute said with higher electricity unit sales growth and largely stable coal prices in 1Q, it estimated core net profit could come in at around RM700 million to RM800 million (4QFY10: RM414 million, 1QFY10: RM751 million).
KPJ HEALTHCARE BHD [] has proposed to acquire Sibu Specialist Medical Centre for RM26.90 million cash to expand into markets where private healthcare is in demand.
KPJ would acquire the 100% stake in Sibu Medical Centre Corporation Sdn Bhd (SMCC), comprising 6.62 million shares, from 14 individuals for RM26.90 million cash. SMCC owns and operates private specialist hospital Sibu Specialist Medical Centre at Brooke Drive in Sibu. KPJ Healthcare said the vendors were practising as specialists at the medical centre.
Malaysia Steelworks (KL) Bhd plans to implement a private placement of up to 31.616 million new shares of 50 sen, representing not more than 10% of the paid-up share capital to investors to be identified. The indicative price would be RM1.21, which is a discount of 10% or 13 sen to the five-day VWAP of sahres up to Jan 17 of RM1.34.