FBM30 1538.77 +1.68 points (+0.11%), Vol 2,844mil, Value 2,315mil
1) Ahead of the long weekend, index fell as much as 11 points in the first trading hour before gradually paring down losses to close above the overnight level, thanks to mild bargain hunting in select heavyweights (SIME+1.9%, AXIATA+0.4%, CIMB+1%). Despite investors being cautious ahead of January US employment data later in the day, lower liners dominated the market volume with hefty gains: NICORP+100%, SAAG+7%, KBUNAI+8.8%, ASIAPAC+15%. Market breadth was healthy with gainers outpacing losers 461:399. Futures closed 1538 (parity)
2) Heavyweights: SIME+1.9% RM9.46, CIMB+1% RM7.00, PETGAS+2% RM16.20, PCHEM+0.9% RM6.79, AXIATA+0.4% RM4.75, IOICORP+0.4% RM5.44, GENTING-1.4% RM11.00, KLK-2.7% RM24.90, GENM-2.2% RM4.01, AIRASIA-1.9% RM3.63.
3) DBT: SUNREIT 26.5mil @ RM1.26
4) Situationals:
Hibiscs-3.9% RM1.49: Shares dipped after company clarified that it had posted net losses of RM1.27mil for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2011 instead of net profit. In its amended financial statements on Thursday, Hibiscus said the net losses were due to the higher expenditure. It also said it posted net losses of RM13,000 in the quarter ended Sept 30,2010 instead of a net profit of RM13,000.
5) Waseong: Announced that it's wholly owned subsidiary WS Agro Industries Pte Ltd has entered into a Subscription & Shareholders Agreement with Silvermark Resources Inc & Giant Dragon Group Ltd, for the subscription of 51% of Atama Resources Inc (ARI) for an aggregate subscription of up to USD25m. Atama Plantation SARL (APS), a wholly owned subsidiary of ARI, is principally engaged in plantation & industrial processing, agro industry & marketing of finished and semi-finished products. On 17 Dec 2010, APS and the Govt of the Republic of Congo had entered into a Oil Palm Plantation Concession Agreement to undertake & operate the business of agricultural development & cultivation of oil palm on 470,000ha of federal land. The concession granted is for a period of 30 years extendable for as many terms as required by the concessionaires. Planning & feasibility studies for the project have been done, and 180,000 ha has been identified as highly suitable for oil palm cultivation - subscription is in line with Waseong group's expansion plan into the oil palm plantation as a source of sustainable & recurring income. It is also an upstream integration, because through it's subsidiaries, it has already been in the business of supplying specialized equipments like boilers, steam turbine and oil room centrifuges to palm oil mill operators locally & abroad, including Africa. Project is expected to contribute positively to Waseong's future earnings.
6) Mkt: Barring a bad US jobs data and a hiccup in the Greeks' debt swap agreement, the KLCI index will continue to grind higher with construction stks, mid caps & lower liners the ourperformers.