MAHB, CIMB, EON Cap lift FBM KLCI

KUALA LUMPUR: MAHB, CIMB and EON Cap helped nudge the benchmark FBM KLCI to a fresh two-year high in the early session on Friday, April 2 as sentiment was reinforced by the firmer close on Wall Street.

At 9.36am, the FBM KLCI rose 3.68 points to 1,333.52. Turnover was 83.51 million shares valued at RM86.61 million. There were 212 gainers, 78 losers and 155 stocks unchanged.

Hwang DBS Vickers Research (HDBSVR) said the Malaysian bourse surprised it with a positive performance yesterday. And the rising momentum could persist on Friday on the back of follow-through buying activity, when many regional exchanges are on holiday.

“This suggests its benchmark FBM KLCI is poised to climb to fresh highs since the stock market rebound started in March 2009. If so, then the key barometer is expected to surpass its previous peak of 1,334 (achieved on March 10), looking to overcome the immediate resistance threshold of 1,340 anytime soon,” it said.

HDBSVR said Wall Street saw two of its three major equity bellwethers (up between 0.2% and 0.7%) reaching new post recovery highs last night, thanks to better manufacturing data and a drop in jobless claims.

On the local economic front, it said Malaysia’s external trade report for Feb is due for release later on Friday. One media poll is projecting an annual growth rate of 27% for exports and 36% for imports, translating to a monthly trade surplus of RM12.4 billion.

MAHB rose the most, adding 15 sen to RM4.95 as investors’ interest perked up after it unveiled its five-year business direction. OSK Research is maintaining its Trading Buy recommendation on MAHB with a target price of RM5.50 based on 16x FY0 EPS.

CIMB added 14 sen to RM14.52. EON Cap added 11 sen to RM7.16 after Hong Leong Bank raised its offer for EON Cap’s assets and liabilities to RM5.06 billion or RM7.30 per share from RM4.92 billion or RM7.10 per share previously.

Other gainers were MPI, adding 14 sen to RM6.63, Keck Seng 14 sen also to RM5.71 while Bursa added 10 sen to RM7.94.

IRCB was the most active with 6.21 million shares done, inching up one sen to RM1.11. It fell earlier in the week after MMC Corp announced it had ceased to be a substantial shareholder.

MRCB added one sen to RM1.69 on expectations it could play a pivotal role in the development of the Sungei Buloh land under the government’s New Economic Model.

PPB shed six sen to RM18.20 while Parkson eased four sen to RM5.95 and MISC three sen to RM8.40