Previous Day Highlights

The FBM KLCI remained in consolidation mode to close almost unchanged as late bargain hunting emerged to pare earlier losses. The benchmark index lost a mere 0.04% or 0.52 points to close at 1,434.22. Losers were led by KLK, INARI and CIMB. Market breadth was neutral with 443 losers against 429 gainers while 428 counters remain unchanged. Total volume stood at 3.07bn shares valued at RM2.03bn.

Key regional indices closed mostly higher despite recessionary fears from the West except SHCOMP which closed 0.27% lower to 3,318.36. Nikkei 225 and STI both rose by 0.26% in unison, to close at 28,156.97 and 3,294.54 respectively. Meanwhile, HSI added 0.17% to end at 20,344.48.

Wall Street rebounded following March producer price index indicating a cooling down of inflation. The DJIA surged 1.14% to end at 34,029.69 while S&P500 and Nasdaq soared 1.33% and 1.99% to close at 4,146.22 and 12,166.27. respectively.

News For The Day

Infomina says revenue boosted by hike in rates for

customers, overage fee Infomina announced its 3QFY5/23 net profit of RM22.72m on revenue of RM109.73m. It said 80% or RM87.8m of its quarterly revenue was contributed by the technology infrastructure operations, maintenance, and support services segment, which benefited from an increase in rates for customers, overage fee charged to customers due to higher-than-expected utilisation, and new contracts which were effective in this quarter. - The Edge Markets

VCI Global lodges prospectus for Nasdaq listing

A Malaysian entity that provides corporate advisory services has lodged its prospectus in the United States for a listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The Kuala Lumpur-based firm, called VCI Global Ltd, assists companies in their journey to public listings, assists with merger and acquisition activities as well as provides investor relations services to its clients. VCI Global also owns Kuala Lumpur-based investor relations outfit, Imej Jiwa Communications, that advises over 35 publicly-listed companies on Bursa Malaysia on a retainer basis, VCI Global’s prospectus revealed. -The Star

LTAT sells 112.56m shares in Affin Bank to Sarawak state

Affin Bank has confirmed that the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) has divested 112.56m shares in the bank to the State Financial Secretary Sarawak for RM221.74m via a direct business transaction. The bank said it sold the shares, representing 4.95% of the total issued shares, for a cash consideration of RM1.97 per share.-The Star

Reservoir Link inks agreement to build wastewater

treatment plant in Indonesia Reservoir Link Energy has inked an agreement to undertake the construction, commissioning and operations of a new wastewater treatment plant in Indonesia. The group’s 85%- owned subsidiary PT EnviroTech Akva Indonesia entered into an agreement with PT Unilever Oleochemical Indonesia (PTUOI) for the new plant in PTUOI's premises at Sei Mangkei, North Sumatra. The agreement will span 10 years starting from the date of commercial operations.-The Edge Markets

SFP Tech moots two-for-one bonus issue

SFP Tech Holdings has proposed to undertake a bonus issue of up to 1.60bn shares on the basis of two bonus shares for every one existing share held, on an entitlement date to be determined later. -The Edge Markets

Our Thoughts

Wall Street advanced as traders cheered the latest producer price index (PPI) data that came in lower than expected illustrating that the US inflation may be cooling down. The March PPI was down 0.5% from the previous month against consensus flattish expectations. As a result, the DJI Average jumped by 383 points while the Nasdaq added 237 points despite the US 10-year yield ended higher to almost 3.45%. Closer to home, the HKSE struggled to stay afloat as prominent global funds continued with their divestments in major Chinese companies. Nonetheless, the HSI still managed to close 35 points higher buoyed by higher-than-expected exports from China. Back home, the FBM KLICI again closed flat having trended within a tight trading range throughout the trading session. Due to the positive cue from Wall Street, we reckon regional markets to excel today thus anticipate the local bourse to follow suit. Therefore, we expect the index to hover within the 1,435- 1,445 today with buying interest returning to tech- related counters.

Source: Rakuten Research - 14 Apr 2023

To sign up for an account: http://bit.ly/40BNqKI

[Youtube Tutorial] Account Opening & Enable Foreign Equity: http://bit.ly/3I5Jzxo