Blue chips take a pause, glove makers up

KUALA LUMPUR: Stocks on Bursa Malaysia took a breather on Wednesday, April 7 after the lacklustre overnight close on Wall Street but Iris and Pos Malaysia attracted positive trading interest.

Glove makers rose on expectations of more demand following fresh reports on the H1N1 flu virus

At 9.51am, the FBM KLCI was down 0.81 of a point to 1,343.56. Turnover was 212.03 million shares valued at RM198.54 million. There were 197 gainers, 206 losers and 228 stocks unchanged.

Hwang DBS Vickers Research said it would probably be a day of consolidation for share prices on the Malaysian bourse, after the key FBM KLCI climbed 50.7-point or 3.9% in 11 straight days.

“Technically, the bellwether will strive to stay above the resistance-turned-support line of 1,340 ahead,” it said.

The research house said in terms of individual corporate development, Pos Malaysia could see added trading interest following an announcement that it would be raising the price of domestic postage stamps by 75%-100% effective July 1 this year. This comes as its major shareholder Khazanah plans to sell off the entire 32.2% stake in Pos Malaysia sometime this year.

Among the biggest losers were MTD ACPI, down 20 sen to 49 sen but with only 12,000 shares done while BHIC fell eight sen to RM4.31 and MMC Corp six sen to RM2.04 while Dayang shed five sen to RM2.04.

Among PLANTATION []s, Batu Kawan shed 10 sen to RM10.80 and KL Kepong eight sen to RM16.90.

Among glove makers, Latexx-WA added 16 sen to RM3.64, Latexx 15 sen to RM4.23 while Supermax added 12 sen to RM7.27 and Adventa 10 sen higher RM3.71.

KNM was the most active, adding 0.5 sen to 77.5 sen with 19.28 million shares done. Iris rose 1.5 sen to 16.5 sen with 16.9 million shares done.

Pos Malaysia added 13 sen to RM2.99 on expectations of more upside for the company as it seeks to raise the prices for postage and ahead of Khazanah Nasional’s divestment of 32% stake