Written by Surin Murugiah of theedgemalaysia.com
Tuesday, 15 March 2011 06:00
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KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI is likely to trade in a tight range on Tuesday, March 15, as external factors including the devastating earthquake in Japan and Mid-east geopolitical conflicts still weigh on the market.
Japanese stocks fell 6.2% on Monday as investors expected the disaster to take an economic toll.
While some of the key Asian markets staged a mild recovery on Monday with commodity stocks edging up, the FBM KLCI succumbed to late profit taking activities.
Among the stocks that could be in focus today are timber-related stocks, PUBLIC BANK BHD [], TELEKOM MALAYSIA BHD [], FITTERS DIVERSIFIED BHD [], chipmakers and semiconductor related stocks, and ManagePay Systems Bhd.
Timber-related stocks may advance as demand for timber products was expected to rise in the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan.
RHB Research in a note on Monday said it expects post CONSTRUCTION [] activities in Japan to repair and rebuild the damaged areas to spur demand for timber products, although this is hard to quantify at the moment.
Chipmakers supplying to Japan's high-tech companies could be affected as plant closures and production outages among Japan companies may pose a threat to the global supply chain as a substantial amount of all global TECHNOLOGY [] products are made in Japan.
Public Bank has assured its shareholders that it was in the position to maintain its 50% dividend payout policy in the medium term despite the impending Basel III requirements.
Public Bank chief operating officer Leong Kwok Nyem on Monday told shareholders that Public Bank aimed to balance between the need to meet regulatory capital requirements and the needs to optimise returns to shareholders.
Telekom Malaysia's unit Menara Kuala Lumpur Sdn Bhd (MKLSB) has signed a ten-year concession agreement with the government operate, manage and maintain Menara Kuala (MKL) and the MKL land that comprises five lots of Federal lands.
Under the Concession Agreement, MKLSB is responsible to manage and operate the Tower in accordance with the approved standard of telecommunication and broadcasting tower, as well as a tourism and hospitality centre.
Fitters Diversified's wholly-owned subsidiary Z'odd Design Sdn Bhd secured a RM32.98 million contract for the construction and completion of fit out works for Kidzania Kuala Lumpur at The Curve NX Building in Mutiara Damansara.
Meanwhile, ManagePay Systems will be making its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities.