KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 17): Shares of Glove manufacturers surged on Tuesday, led by Hartalega Holdings Bhd (KL:HARTA) and Top Glove Corp Bhd (KL:TOPGLOV), after the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that tariffs on Chinese gloves will be raised to 50% in 2025 and 100% in 2026.

Hartalega opened limit up at 72 sen or 29.75% higher to RM3.14, from its close of RM2.42, while Top Glove rose 29.5 sen or 32.24% to a high of RM1.21, from 91.5 sen last Friday.

Supermax Corp Bhd (KL:SUPERMX) rose as much as 21 sen or 26.58% to RM1 before paring gains to 90 sen, still up 11 sen or 13.92%. The counter closed at 79 sen last Friday.

Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd (KL:KOSSAN) rose as much as 48 sen or 26.23% to RM2.31. At the time of writing, it was trading at RM2.10, still up 27 sen or 14.75% from last Friday’s close of RM1.83.

The glove makers were the top gainers and top active counters at the morning trading session on Tuesday, supporting the Kuala Lumpur Healthcare Index’s 6.92% rise against the 0.08% increase in the KLCI.

Lower liners also rose, including Comfort Gloves Bhd (KL:COMFORT) (up 3.5 sen or 9.46% to 40.5 sen at the time of writing), Careplus Group Bhd (KL:CAREPLS) (up three sen or 11.54% to 29 sen) and HLT Global Bhd (KL:HLT) (up one sen or 7.14% to 15 sen).

The tariff increase, from 7.5% currently, is expected to lift both volume and average selling price (ASP) in the fourth quarter of 2024 (4Q2024) and 1Q2025, said HLIB Research in a note.

“With recent share price weakness and positive development from USTR, we believe the risk-reward ratio has once again become favourable and the glove sector could regain market interest,” said the research house, which has upgraded the sector to "overweight".

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/node/726888