Business & Markets 2014
Written by Chong Jin Hun of theedgemalaysia.com
Monday, 09 June 2014 18:12
KUALA LUMPUR (June 9): Based on Bursa Malaysia announcements and news flow today, stocks to watch tomorrow may include the following companies:
Construction firm IJM Corp Bhd and 64.16%-owned property subsidiary IJM Land Bhd may be closely watched. Trading of IJM Corp and IJM Land shares has been suspended since last Friday (June 6) pending a material announcement.
Last Friday, IJM Corp said it was contemplating corporate proposals including the possible privatisation of IJM Land. IJM Corp said then it had yet to make a decision on the matter.
Prior to the trading suspension, IJM Corp and IJM Land shares closed at RM7 and RM3.20 respectively last Thursday.
Oil palm plantation firms like Kuala Kepong Bhd (KLK) and IOI Corp Bhd may attract investors' attention as the Malaysian Palm Oil Board is expected to announce May production, inventory and export data tomorrow.
Reuters reported that a median forecast of six traders, planters and analysts pegged Malaysian palm stocks at 1.81 million tonnes at end-May, up 2.4 percent from April and the highest in four months.
May's palm output was seen rising 7.1 percent to 1.67 million tonnes, according to the survey. Exports were forecast at 1.36 million tonnes, up 8.0 percent from April.
The spotlight may also fall on export-based rubber glove manufacturers like Top Glove Corp Bhd and Supermax Corp Bhd after the ringgit strengthened against the US dollar.
The ringgit changed hands at RM3.1975 versus the US dollar today compared with RM3.2122 last Friday.
As Top Glove and Supermax's global sales are denominated in US dollar, a firmer ringgit will translate into lower income for these companies when their US dollar earnings are converted into the ringgit.
Bloomberg reported that the ringgit rose to the strongest level in almost seven months as reports on Chinese shipments and U.S. employment brightened the export outlook.
The ringgit led an advance in Asian currencies after China, Malaysia’s second-biggest overseas market, said yesterday that exports increased 7 percent last month. That was the most since January and beat the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg for a 6.7 percent gain.
American employers added 217,000 jobs in May, the fourth month in a row employment has increased by more than 200,000, according to a June 6 report.
Meanwhile, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd (HLFG) will trade ex-dividend tomorrow. HLFG has proposed to pay a second interim single-tier dividend of 25 sen a share.
The group will pay the dividend on June 26 this year.