US markets plunged overnight following renewed concerns of coronavirus. Similarly, European stocks declined as earlier optimism on coronavirus vaccines started to fade. 

On the local market, the FBM KLCI surged 20.70 points to 1590.78 points. Following the decline in Wall Street, the FBM KLCI could remain below its resistance of 1615 points.

Stocks to watch based on corporate newsflow are: Salcon plans to diversify into the glove manufacturing business by buying a 51% stake in glove manufacturing company, JR Engineering and Medical Technologies (M) Sdn Bhd (JR), for RM28.56 million; Bintai Kinden has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Australia-listed International Equities Corp Ltd's (IEC) wholly-owned subsidiary IEC Properties Pty Ltd, under a planned arrangement for which IEC will have the sole distribution rights for a COVID-19 vaccine in Australia and New Zealand; Gets Global, which was issued an unusual market activity (UMA) query by Bursa, said it is unaware of the reason behind the sharp rise in its share price and trading volume; IHH Healthcare is selling its 50% stake in an Indian joint venture (JV) to its partner Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd for RM227.08 million cash or 4.1 billion Indian rupees; Two sub-subsidiaries of Nexgram have entered into a deal to facilitate the collection of payment on behalf of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other government agencies for Covid-19 screening and quarantine involving inbound and outbound travelers; Oversea Enterprise plans to raise up to RM27.65 million via a private placement to fund its business expansion and working capital requirements. The Chinese restaurant chain operator said it will be placing out 48.5 million shares (representing 20% of its share capital) to selected third-party investors to be identified later; MRCB-Quill REIT has disposed of its Quill Building 5 in Cyberjaya for RM45 million, cash. The expected net gain from the proposed disposal is RM3.73 million; Karex is acquiring the remaining 30% stake in US-based Global Protection Corp (GP) for RM42.26 million, to be satisfied via the issuance of new shares; An arbitral tribune has ordered EA Technique to pay Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering a sum of US$29.52 million (RM121.93 million), after hearing a dispute between the two companies over a contract; Gas Malaysia posted a 21% yoy jump in its 3QFY20 net profit on higher volume sold, higher finance income and share of profits from joint venture companies; Berjaya Food’s 1QFY21 net profit more than doubled to RM10.37 million from RM4.61 million a year ago, as its revenue returned to pre-COVID-19 levels.

Malaysia News & Highlights

Company Development and Outlooks

• Oversea Enterprise to raise up to RM27.65m via private placement to fund expansion

• PMB Technology buys Sungai Besi property for RM30m

• Karex to buy remaining 30% stake in US condom firm GP

• Nexgram appoints Ottigo as payment collector for Covid-19 screening

• Nova MSC unit appoints Topcon Healthcare as distributor of AI product

• Top Glove buys back more shares for third consecutive day, spent RM209m so far this week

• Salcon joins glove maker club, targets producing three billion gloves a year

• MQREIT sells Quill Building 5 for RM45 mil

• AirAsia’s Teleport partners Alibaba’s Cainiao for cross-border deliveries from Tmall Taobao for 11.11 sales

• Bintai Kinden subsidiary inks MOU for Covid-19 vaccine distribution in Australia, New Zealand

• IHH Healthcare sells 50% stake in Indian JV to partner for RM227m cash

Quarterly Results

• Carlsberg sees earnings rebound q-o-q after lockdowns ease

• BFood's quarterly profit more than doubles as revenue returns to pre-COVID-19 level

• Gas Malaysia 3Q net profit rises 21% on higher natural gas sales

• Star Media’s 3Q net profit soars to RM26.92 mil, boosted by compensation income

• Duopharma Biotech 3Q net profit down 5% on lower demand from private sector

Contracts Secured and Awards

• MHB wins RM122m arbitration award in dispute with EATech

• Ministry of Home Affairs awards Mesiniaga RM15 mil hardware, software maintenance contract