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Written by Joseph Chin of theedgemalaysia.com
Tuesday, 12 April 2011 07:32
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KUALA LUMPUR: Stocks may stage a rebound on Tuesday, April 12 after the profit-taking activities on Monday as there are great expectations from the Invest Malaysia 2011 conference to be opened by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Investors may look beyond some political concerns and the lacklustre overnight close on Wall Street to pick up some oversold counters whose fundamentals are intact.
In the US, stocks mostly fell on Monday as energy shares sold off on lower oil prices, and as the earnings season onset was clouded by concern company outlooks may fall short of expectations.
Worries that increased raw material costs and the effects from Japan's earthquake may affect coming quarters will put companies' forward-looking statements under increased scrutiny.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.06 points, or 0.01 percent, at 12,381.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 3.71 points, or 0.28 percent, at 1,324.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 8.91 points, or 0.32 percent, at 2,771.51.
Meanwhile, The Edge FinancialDaily highlights on Tuesday that if the wish lists of analysts are anything to go by, expectations of groundbreaking announcements will be high at the seventh edition of Invest Malaysia 2011.
The Edge FinancialDaily also reports that in a move to improve market efficiency, Bursa Malaysia will implement a validity-of-order throughout the day, via the "Day Order", effective April 18.
The new Day Order will also see a single trading limit of 30% for shares above RM1 and 30 sen for units below RM1 for the whole trading day, rather than the single trading session, in order to curtail speculative moves.
Stocks to watch include MAA HOLDINGS BHD [], JERNEH ASIA BHD [], COASTAL CONTRACTS BHD [], NOTION VTEC BHD [] and PARKSON HOLDINGS BHD [].
MAA Holdings submitted an application to Bank Negara Malaysia to get its approval to dispose of its insurance unit to Zurich Insurance Company Ltd.
It said it had submitted the application to the central bank for the approval of the Minister of Finance to enter into an agreement with Zurich.
Meanwhile, Jerneh Asia is in talks with a number of companies for a possible asset injection as part of its regularisation plan. Jerneh Asia said an appropriate announcement would be made in should any proposed asset injection materialises.
Coastal Contracts Bhd’s two units have secured contracts for the sale of 11 tugboats for about RM61 million to a company based in Central America.
Including the new contracts, Coastal Group to date has about RM665 million worth of vessel sales orders awaiting delivery to customers up to 2012.
The Edge FinancialDaily reports that Parkson Holdings Bhd's latest venture into the Indonesian retail market could be a boon to investors as it would give shareholders direct exposure to the potentially strong growth market, as its Malaysian operation matures while the one in Vietnam is challenged by the country's volatile economy.
Notion VTec Bhd said its controlling shareholders had been approached by a party indicating their intention to acquire the entire business/equity interests in the company.
However, neither the controlling shareholders nor the company has received any definitive proposal. “Negotiations are still on-going and the company will make the necessary announcement should there be any matter that requires an immediate disclosure,” it said.
PUNCAK NIAGA HOLDINGS BHD [] is calling for the respective bondholders meeting following the recent rating actions taken by Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) in a move to seek certain waivers from bondholders.
Puncak Niaga said MARC’s actions had resulted in the rating of some of the group's debt to fall below the minimum required under their respective trust deeds.