Market rises for the third day of 2010

Shares on Bursa Malaysia extended their New Year rally on Wednesday, rising for the third consecutive trading day of 2010.

The FBM KLCI rose 4.9 points to close at 1,293.2. This brings its total gains for the new year so far to 20.4 points or 1.6%, after the index ended 2009 at 1,272.8.

Market breadth was positive with advancing stocks beating declining ones by a 3-to-2 ratio at the close. Trading volume remained robust with 1.66 billion shares changing hands.

Lower liners made up most of the actively traded stocks, with notable interest on penny property stocks such as Land & General, LBS, MK Land and Talam. Other actively traded stocks include Compugates, Scomi and SAAG.

Glove makers dominated the top gainers list, with almost evey player chalking up large gains. The top 10 gainers include Supermax, Hartalega, Rubberex, Kossan and Adventa. Tanjong plc also chalked up good gains, having lagged most other blue chips in 2009. The stock had risen only 27% last year, compared with the index’ 45% gain. Losers were mostly smaller stocks, with the notable exception of SP Setia.

Asian stock markets also closed generally higher on Wednesday. Most bourses benefit from the inflow of new funds and asset reallocation exercises in the early day if the new year.

Overnight, Wall Street fell due to mixed economic signals.

US factory orders rose 1.1% in November, more than twice market expectations. However, pending home sales plunging 16% in November – the first drop after nine months of gains and indicating weaker sales in the months ahead. This was partly due to the expiry of tax credits, which has been delayed from November 2009 to April 2010. But it underscores the reliance on stimulus programmes to boost growth.