Written by Loong Tse Min
Thursday, 07 January 2010 08:21
KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips on Bursa Malaysia could take a breather on Thursday, Jan 7 after three days of gains and where the FBM KLCI was seen poised to test the psychological important 1,300 level.
Oil and gas stocks could see more trading interest after light crude oil for February rose to US$83 per barrel.
In the US, the Dow and S&P 500 inched higher, while the Nasdaq dipped on Wednesday, Jan 6 after Federal Reserve officials said they were still worried about labour market weakness and a report on the services sector showed only slight improvement in the economy, according to Reuters.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.66 points, or 0.02 percent, to end at 10,573.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index inched up just 0.62 of a point, or 0.05 percent, to finish at 1,137.14. But the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 7.62 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,301.09.
Stocks to watch include oil and gas counters, PETRA PERDANA BHD [], Ho Hup CONSTRUCTION [] Co. Bhd, MAA Holdings and glove makers.
Other counters are NOTION VTEC BHD [], SUMATEC RESOURCES BHD [], Tanjong plc and TANJUNG OFFSHORE BHD [].
At Petra Perdana, the board received a notice from a group of the company's key executives cum shareholders, demanding the removal of existing directors and appointment of new board members with immediate effect.
The shareholders were disgruntled over the company's recent divestments. PETRA ENERGY BHD [] could also see some trading interest.
Ho Hup shares could see some profit taking as the recent surge in the share price was not supported by strong fundamental changes.
The stage was also set for another showdown between Lo and Ho Hup's deputy executive chairman Datuk Vincent Lye. This was just barely a week after Lye won a proxy fight against Low to pass a land disposal deal.
MAA HOLDINGS BHD [] has received Bank Negara's approval for the proposed transfer of its general insurance business to AmG Insurance Bhd, a 51%-owned subsidiary of AMMB HOLDINGS BHD []. The total cash consideration was for up to RM180 million.
Tanjung Offshore Bhd has been awarded long-term charter contracts worth an estimated RM150 million by Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd to assist in the latter’s seaward operations.
Notion Vtec Bhd has fixed the issue price for its 13.84 million placement shares at RM2.44 each.
Sumatec Resources Bhd is hiving off its shipping business for RM105 million to be satisfied via RM65 million cash and shares representing a 38.1% stake in a new holding company (newco) for the shipping business.
Shares of glove makers rallied as sentiment was underpinned by a CIMB Equities Research report which maintained its overweight on the sector.
Tanjong plc’s share price has rallied following a renewed interest in the power and gaming sectors, which are the company’s mainstay.
“We like Tanjong for the upside potential from new number forecast operation (NFO) games and attractive valuation backed by its resilient power and gaming operations,” HwangDBS Vickers said in a recent report on the company.