Previous Day Highlights

FBM KLCI closed marginally lower as caution weighed on sentiment. The benchmark index was down 0.04% or 0.71 pts to close at 1,634.91. Gainers were seen in construction (+1.90%), REIT (+1.33%), and health care (+0.62%); while losers were seen in industrial products & services (-1.32%), energy (-1.31%), and plantation (-0.57%). Market breadth was negative with 566 losers against 548 gainers. Total volume stood at 3.2bn shares valued at RM2.47bn.

Major regional indices trended mixed. HSI declined 1.38%, to end at 20,637.24. SHCOMP plunged 6.62%, to close at 3,258.86. Nikkei 225 was up 0.87%, to finish at 39,277.96. STI rose 0.56%, to close at 3,595.66.

Wall Street closed higher as minutes from the Federal Reserve's September meeting signalled more rate cuts. The DJIA added 1.03%, to end at 42,512.00. Nasdaq gained 0.60%, to close at 18,291.62. S&P500 rose 0.71%, to finish at 5,792.05.

News For The Day

Guan Chong eyes 25% stake in Ivory Coast cocoa outfit

Guan Chong is seeking to take up a 25% stake in Ivory Coast- based cocoa manufacturing outfit Transcao Côte d'Ivoire. If it goes through, the deal will see Asia’s largest manufacturer of cocoa-derived food ingredients further extend its footprint into Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa bean origin country whose annual cocoa bean production of two million tonnes accounts for 40% of global supply. - The Edge Markets

Tropicana seals RM240m land deal in Johor

Tropicana Corp's wholly-owned subsidiary Tropicana Firstwide has sold 38.53 acres of freehold land for RM240m in Gelang Patah, Johor. The purchaser, Computility Technology (Malaysia), which is a sub-subsidiary of Beijing-headquartered cloud and IT infrastructure services firm, plans to use the land to establish a regional data centre hub in Johor. Tropicana said it is looking for strategic partners to jointly develop over 728 acres of landbank in Johor. It added that its unbilled sales stood at RM2.3bn. - The Star

LBS Bina subsidiary awards RM104m EPCC contract

LBS Bina Group's indirect subsidiary Suria Hijauan has awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract to Atlantic Blue, a unit of Solarvest Holdings, to construct a 43MWP solar farm in Senawang, Negeri Sembilan, for RM104m. The solar farm, which is expected to be completed by end-2025, is projected to generate about 53,000 MWh of clean energy annually and offsetting about 35,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. - The Star

Kitacon bags RM64.1m housing works project from S P Setia

Construction firm Kumpulan Kitacon has secured a contract worth RM64.1m to undertake main building works for a proposed double-storey house in Shah Alam, Selangor. The project is scheduled to commence on Nov 14 and is expected to be completed within 27 months. With the latest contract win, Kumpulan Kitacon has secured six contracts since the beginning of the year, with a total value of RM511m. At end-June, its outstanding order book stood at RM1.25bn - The Edge Markets

Critical Holdings sets sight on data centre boom

Critical Holdings aims to increase the revenue contribution from data centres while maintaining the strong performance of its plant room and clean room segments. Critical Holdings has an order book of RM130m. With growing semiconductor and DC projects in southern and central Selangor, the Group is setting up a regional office in Johor within two months to capitalize on this growth. - The Edge Markets

Our Thoughts

Wall Street closed on a strong note as both the DJIA and S&P500 notched record highs. Sentiment was buoyed by expectations that the Fed favoured cutting rate by another 50bps next month as the DJIA added 432 points while the Nasdaq gained 109 points despite the US 10- year yield edging higher at 4.075%. In Hong Kong, the HSI suffered another day of decline as the index slid by almost 290 points to almost the 20,500 level amid the trashing of both the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets following a dismal press conference by China’s economic planner a couple of days ago. Back home, the local bourse remained stuck in its correction phase with the FBM KLCI closing flat flowing a choppy session as sentiment remained cautious as depicted by the low daily volume. Looking ahead, we believe the trading pattern to improve slightly, taking cue from the more positive US market thus expect the index to hover within the 1,635-1,645 range today.

Source: Rakuten Research - 10 Oct 2024

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