Previous Day Highlights

FBM KLCI closed lower due to profit taking activities. The benchmark index lost 0.21% or 3.52 pts to close at 1,665.3. Majority of sectors were negative with construction (- 1.08%), tech (-1.03%), and healthcare (-0.9%), leading the losers; while gainers were seen in property (+0.82%) and telco (+0.16%) and financial services (+0.05%). Market breadth was negative with 675 losers against 458 gainers. Total volume stood at 3.36bn shares valued at RM3.17bn.

Major regional indices trended higher. SHCOMP and STI gained 0.44% and0.38% to close at 2,748.92 and 3,638.54 respectively. HSI lost 0.06% to finish at 18,247.11. Nikkei225 was closed for a public holiday.

Wall Street closed higher as traders reflect on the central bank’s policy path. The DJIA added 0.15%, to end at 42,124.65. Nasdaq eased 0.14%, to close at 17,974.27. S&P500 rose 0.28%, to finish at 5,718.58.

News For The Day

ITMAX gets fourth parking management contract in Johor

ITMAX System 65% subsidiary company has been appointed by the Segamat Municipal Council (MPS) to operate 7,637 street parking in Johor's Segamat district, marking its fourth such contract in the state. The 15-year contract will see ITMAX secure 70% of the revenue generated from parking collections and parking compounds under a revenue sharing model, with the MPS entitling to the remaining 30%. – The Edge Markets

AirAsia expects 10% boost to revenue

Capital A’s aviation arm AirAsia expects its expanded domestic network and additional seats to boost revenue for the year by 10%. AirAsia is adding 2,000 weekly domestic flights and 150,000 seats across 40 key routes by the end of the year. The company hopes that AirAsia’s domestic market share would increase to 64% from 53% currently, with a total of 1.7m seats available for booking by December 2024. – The Edge Markets

EPB Group to acquire industrial land for RM22m

EPB Group is acquiring a piece of industrial land at Penang Science Park North measuring 7.8424 acres from Penang Development Corp for RM22.5m. The company said it intends to expand its business footprint in Penang by building a new corporate office, as well as a factory building with a warehouse and a showroom. - The Star

Industronics disposes of 1,382 sq metres of land for RM7m

Industronics is disposing of 1,382 sq metres of freehold land in Kajang, Selangor to People and Global SB for RM7m. The company said it plans to put RM5m of the proceeds from this disposal for investment to open a new sales gallery for luxury watches within two years of this sale. - The Star

Cropmate gets greenlight to list on the ACE Market

Specialty fertiliser maker Cropmate has received the nod from Bursa Malaysia for its listing on the ACE Market. Proceeds from IPO will be used to upgrade the automated weighing process as well as setting up research and development and test laboratories; and purchasing equipment and vehicles. - The Star

Penang Port set to exceed 1.5m TEUs by year-end

Penang Port is expected to exceed a container handling capacity of 1.5m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) by the end of this year, said its CEO Datuk Sasedharan Vasudevan. "We are now in phase 1A and our capacity has increased from 2.1m-2.3m TEUs after a RM160m upgrading of the North Butterworth Container Terminal in August 2020,” he added. - The Star

Our Thoughts

Wall Street closed higher with both the DJIA and S&P500 charting record highs amid a choppy session. Nonetheless, sentiment may have turned cautious as traders would now look at Thursday‘s weekly jobless claims. In Hong Kong, the HSI surrendered early gains to end on a flat note as profit taking activities set in following a 2-week uptrend. This is despite the PBOC injecting USD33.3bn into the banking system via open market operations but traders remained unimpressed as this is not a major policy easing. On the home front, the FBMKLCI opened on a high but lost steam along way to close marginally lower possibly due to the lack of buying catalysts and that the local bourse may be undergoing an intermittent consolidation. Hence, we expect the index to hover within the 1,660-1,670 range today.

Source: Rakuten Research - 24 Sep 2024

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