Previous Day Highlights

The FBM KLCI ended in negative territory on Tuesday as profit taking activities continue to persist across the board. The benchmark index slipped 0.22% or 3.07 points to close at 1,403.03. Losers were led NESTLE, HLBANK and PPB. Market breadth was mixed with 475 losers against 420 gainers while 405 were unchanged. Total volume stood at 3.40bn shares valued at RM2.00bn.

Key regional indices closed mostly positive yesterday. Nikkei225 and STI gained 1.24% and 0.64% to end at 32,896.03 and 3,275.24 respectively. SHCOMP added 0.03% to 3,198.84 while HSI eased 0.33% to 18,985.31.

Wall Street closed higher with the DJIA registering its longest winning streak in nearly four years. The DJIA advanced 0.31% to close at 35,061.21. S&P500 and Nasdaq climbed 0.24% and 0.03%, respectively to end at 4,565.72 and 14,358.02.

News For The Day

Anwar: Geely to invest US$10bn

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the aspiration, conveyed by the company in a letter to him, would create thousands of job opportunities for Malaysians. “Geely, which is jointly producing cars with Proton, has written a 10-page letter to me to inform that it wants to continue to make Tanjung Malim, Perak, the largest auto city in the region. It will kick off with US$10bn (RM45.4bn) in investment,” he said. -The Edge Markets

Genting’s Miami property draws offer topping US$1.23bn

Genting has received four offers for a trophy waterfront property in Miami, Florida, once envisioned as the site of a multibillion-dollar resort, including a bid exceeding US$1.23bn (RM5.58bn), Bloomberg reported. “There’s been no break in the receipt of offers, at and even above the US$1.225bn price”. The 15.5-acre parcel, the site of the old Miami Herald building, is one of the largest undeveloped stretches of the city’s waterfront. - The Edge Markets

Solarvest to expand its geographical reach

Solarvest Holdings is partnering two Singapore companies to advance energy storage solutions or ESS development in solar energy systems, as it expands its geographical expansion to Singapore and Brunei to capitalise on the growing demand for sustainable energy solutions. Its wholly owned Solarvest Energy SB has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with IDA Holdings Pte Ltd (IDA) and Acumon Capital Pte Ltd (Acumon). -The Edge Markets

Tex Cycle to dispose of Kuchai Lama property for RM29m

Tex Cycle Technology (M)'s wholly-owned subsidiary Metro Envy SB is disposing a 4,822.7 sqm leasehold property with a three- storey industrial building in Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur, for RM29m. Metro Envy had signed a sales and purchase agreement with the purchaser, Gorgeous Arena SB. The proposed disposal is expected to be completed by 1QCY24.-The Star

Siab Holdings to acquire Taghill projects for RM122m

Siab Holdings has undertaken the proposed acquisition of 2m ordinary shares in Taghill Projects SB, representing 100% of the equity interest, for RM122m. The construction company stated that it will be fully satisfied through a combination of a cash payment of RM96m and RM26m via the issuance of its shares at an issue price of RM0.13 each.-The Star

Our Thoughts

Wall Street maintained its upward trajectory as the US corporate earnings season for the 2Q2023 remained strong. As a result, the DJI Average gained 109 points while the Nasdaq added a marginal 4 points as the US 10- year yield closed lower at 3.748%. In Hong Kong, the HSI lost 63 points to below the 19,000 mark again as sentiment continues to be affected by concerns over China’s economic outlook and the lack of stimulus. Additionally, the anticipated rate hike next week may further impact home sales of Chinese developers. Back home, the FBM KLCI slipped further on Tuesday as profit taking activities continued on selected heavyweights. For today, we reckon trading to remain sluggish as many anticipate another rate hike by the Fed next week. Therefore, we expect the index to hover within the 1,400- 1,410 range again amid another mixed day regionally. We believe some profit taking activities on the Plantation stocks today following a strong performance recently and that the CPO price had eased to below the RM3,900/tonne.

Source: Rakuten Research - 20 Jul 2023

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