Written by Joseph Chin
Friday, 15 January 2010 07:05
KUALA LUMPUR: Stocks on Bursa Malaysia are expected to see firmer trade on Friday, Jan 15 with sustained buying on blue chips, with the 30-stock FBM KLCI testing the major resistance level of 1,300 level.
Stocks in Bursa Malaysia snapped a two-day losing streak on Thursday amid sustained buying interest in select heavyweights and lower liners. The FBM KLCI closed 5.20 points higher at 1,294.71 while the FBM KLCI futures ended at 1,297.
On Wall Street, TECHNOLOGY [] shares drove stocks higher on Thursday on bets ahead of Intel's quarterly results that business spending will bolster profits in the sector
The Dow Jones industrial average added 29.78 points, or 0.28 percent, to 10,710.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 2.78 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,148.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 8.84 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,316.74.
Stocks to watch include Minply Holdings Bhd,Hume Industries (Malaysia) Bhd, Integrated Rubber Corp Bhd’s (IRCB), glove makers, EON CAPITAL BHD [], Cocoaland and Malaysian Merchant Marine.
Minply proposed to cancel 80 sen off the RM1 par value of its shares to be off-set against its accumulated losses. When completed, the issued and paid-up share capital would be RM8.8 million comprising 44 million ordinary shares of 20 sen each.
As at Dec 31, 2008, Minply's accumulated losses stood at RM25.88 million at group level and RM34 million at company level.
Hong Leong Company (M) Bhd's is proposing to take its cash-rich subsidiary Hume Industries (Malaysia) Bhd private at RM4.30 per share under a voluntary takeover offer.
IRCB shares closed at RM1.61 on Jan 14, off the intra-day high of RM1.87 after Bursa Malaysia Securities queried the glove maker over an unusual market activity. The counter hit limit-up in early trade, prompting a query from Bursa. The company replied that it was not aware of any reasons for the sharp rise in volume and price.
Glove makers, which had a strong run-up recently, could see some profit taking ahead of the weekend. Among the counters which had surged were Top Glove, Supermax, Kossan and Hartalega.
Meanwhile, Khazanah Nasional confirmed it has started talks with HONG LEONG BANK BHD [] (HLB) on the sale of its 10% stake in EON Capital Bhd to the latter.
In Malaysian Merchant Marine, it reported that its executive deputy chairman Datuk Ramesh Rajaratnam disposed of five million shares on Jan 11 at 20 sen each. After the disposal, he ceased to be a substantial shareholder as his stake was reduced to 5.24 million shares or 3.13%.
Cocacoland has proposed to a private placement of 12 million news shares or 10% of its paid-up. At an indicative issue price of RM1.264 per placement Share, it is expected to raise up to RM15.2 million.
YTL Cement Singapore Pte Ltd - a unit of YTL Cement - has been asked to submit an unconditional offer for the rest of Jurong Cement Ltd. YTL Cement Singapore owns 21.48% of Jurong Cement and it has earlier proposed to acquire some assets from the latter for S$50 million.