Previous Day Highlights

FBM KLCI retreated from earlier gains to end in negative territory mainly due to profit taking activities following recent uptrend. The benchmark index declined 0.14% or 2.02 points to close at 1,422.59. Losers were led by PPB, NESTLE and QL. Market breadth was neutral with 439 advancers against 407 decliners while 427 counters were unchanged. Total volume stood at 3.27bn shares valued at RM1.76bn.

Key regional markets ended Friday on a positive note attributed to the rebound on Wall Street overnight. Nikkei 225, HSI and SHCOMP posted gains of 0.93%, 0.45% and 0.36% to end at 28,041.48, 20,400.11 and 3,272.86 respectively. Meanwhile, the STI ended the day nearly unchanged at 3,258.90.

Wall Street ended sharply higher following a lower than expected inflation report for February. The DJIA rose by 1.26% to end at 33,274.15 whereas S&P500 and Nasdaq soared 1.44% and 1.74% respectively to close at 4,109.31 and 12,221.91.

News For The Day

Creador confirms MR DIY exit for RM664m

Private equity firm Creador announced that it has completed its exit from MR DIY Group (M) for RM664m via a private placement exercise. The private equity fund said the exit was accomplished via a private placement of its remaining 464m shares or 4.92% stake in MR DIY at RM1.43 apiece “Of the total shares placed, 360m shares were acquired by institutional investors for a total of RM514m,” Creador said, adding that the balance 105m shares were taken up by MR DIY and Creador management for RM150m. -The Edge Markets

Comintel bags RM168.3m construction contract

Comintel Corporation has secured a RM168.3m contract for piling and main building works Exsim Bukit Jalil City SB (formerly known as Exsim Kinta (Ipoh) SB). Comintel said its wholly owned subsidiary, Binastra Builders SB accepted a letter of award in respect of a proposed development of one block of 42-storey serviced apartments (508 units) in Bukit Jalil. The contract shall commence on April 10, 2023 and is to be completed within 33 months. -The Star

Uzma wins RM70m LNG supply contract

Uzma’s 70%-owned subsidiary, Uzma LNG SB (ULSB) has entered into a LNG supply agreement worth RM70m with ND Paper Malaysia (Selangor) SB (NDP) for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Uzma said ULSB would supply LNG via a virtual pipeline to NDP at its factory in Banting. The duration of the contract is for a period of two years commencing from March 15, 2023, until March 14, 2025. -The Star

Solar segment lifts Cypark quarterly profit to RM5.4m

Cypark Resources' 5QFY10/23net profit came in at RM6.77m up 25.8% QoQ from RM5.38m, supported by higher contribution from its renewable energy (RE) segment. The improved performance was despite quarterly revenue declining 32.04% QoQ to RM32.88m from RM48.39m due to lower construction revenue from RE segment, mainly covering its solar farm assets as its turnkey projects in Kelantan are near to completion. -The Edge Markets

Bioalpha gets greenlight to develop Hub in China

Health supplement company Bioalpha Holdings has received approval from China’s local authority to develop a 21-acre Malaysian Agricultural Hub in Hainan. The hub will focus on the upstream and downstream activities such as formulation, manufacturing and commercialisation of functional food products using Malaysian indigenous and tropical herbs. Bioalpha said the hub will take three to five years to complete. -The Edge Markets

Our Thoughts

Wall Street closed broadly higher as sentiment improved following a lower Personal Consumption Expenditure index for February and easing concerns over a banking crisis. As a result, the DJI Average and S&P 500 rose 415 points and 58 points respectively while the Nasdaq added 208 points as the US 10-year yield declined to 3.47%. Over in Hong Kong, the HSI ended 90 points higher on improving China’s manufacturing activities for March in addition to Alibaba and JD.com reorganization which fuelled a tech rally amongst the Chinese peers of late. As for the local bourse, emergence of profit taking activities during the afternoon session saw the FBM KLCI ended marginally lower. Nonetheless, we view this positively as it allows the market to digest recent uptrend. Therefore, we reckon the index to possibly chart higher today trending between the 1,420-1,435 range on broad based buying especially the Reits and Telco related counters.

Source: Rakuten Research - 3 Apr 2023

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