KUALA LUMPUR: Glove stocks continued to see returning investor interest after a new worrying strain of Covid-19 was identified in multiple global locations in recent days.
Top Glove jumped 41 sen to RM3.05, while Hartalega
climbed 41 sen to RM6.06 amid the growing fears of yet another wave of the health crisis.
Other sector players included Kossan adding 31 sen to RM2.40, Supermax gaining 21 sen to RRM2.06, Comfort Glove climbing 13 sen to RM1.35 and Rubberex rising 8.5 sen to RM66 sen.
However, the jump in Top Glove and Hartalega, which have weighting in the FBM KLCI, could not offset the broad-based retreat owing to growing fears of Covid and another global lockdown.
At 9.20am, the FBM KLCI was down 9.66 points to 1,502.56 as the local market joined in the global sell-off.
Bank counters were weighed down, led by Maybank falling eight sen to RM8.02, CIMB dropping 12 sen to RM4.98, Public Bank sliding two sen to RM3.98 and Hong Leong Bank dipping 20 sen to RM18.10.
Commodities players were also hit with aluminium producer Press Metal sharply lower by 20 sen to RM5.37 while Petronas Chemicals slid 15 sen to RM8.28.
In plantations, Sime Darby Plantation dropped four sen to RM3.69, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dipped 20 sen to RM20.36 and IOI fell six sen to RM3.59.
Over the past week, foreign investors turned net sellers of Bursa Malaysia equities to the tune of RM163.54mil, snapping seven consecutive weeks of net buying.
Kenanga Research said in its weekly technical outlook that waves of selling activity could still be hitting the Malaysia bourse ahead following the recent selling pressure.
However, it added that historically, there has showed to upside for investors in the final month of the year .
"With two more trading days to go before we enter the final month of 2021, investors may want to leave November behind (as the FBMKLCI slipped 3.2% month-to-date) and look forward to better times ahead.
“And statistically, the odds are in their favour as the key market barometer had logged positive monthly performance for December in nine of the last 10 years, including the most recent six years. This translates to an average monthly return of +2.2% since 2011,” said Kenanga Research.
source: the star