By News Editor
KUALA LUMPUR: A disappointing overnight close on Wall Street saw high flying glove makers retreat in early Wednesday, led by the world’s biggest glove manufacturer Top Glove after Russia’s claim of proven vaccine platform.
At 9.09am, the FBM KLCI was down 7.71 points to 1,557.03. Turnover was 1.73 billion shares valued at RM503.75mil. The broader market was weak with 440 losers to 150 gainers and 267 counters unchanged.
The overnight fall on Wall Street was after sentiment turned sour in the final hours of trading after Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell indicated on Fox News that there had been no talks between the White House and Democrats on fiscal stimulus plans, Stephen Innes, global chief market strategist at AxiCorp said.
Oil followed stocks lower, but the real pain trade was gold, which fell sharply, down 3.9%, while US 10-year Treasury yields lifted 7bps to 0.64%.
“When you walk back the market’s expectations of an imminent fiscal deal, it is like poking the balloon with a straight pin as all semblance of near-term optimism gets immediately deflated.
“Let us face it; the only relevant information that might aid investors’ comprehension of the path of the real economy has come from fiscal stimulus chatter.
“Take that out of this week’s equation, and you are left hoping on a wing and a prayer for a vaccine cures, which are all still in the clinical trial phase despite Russia’s claim of ‘proven vaccine platform’, ” Innes said.
At Bursa on Tuesday, foreign funds were net sellers at RM103.3mil and local institutions at RM5.8mil while the selling was absorbed by local retail players at net RM109mil.
In Wednesday’s early trade, Top Glove fell 96 sen to RM26.34, Supermax 86 sen to RM20.80, Kossan 84 sen to RM16.76, Hartalega
56 sen to RM17.74 and Rubberex 42 sen to RM5.47 while Careplus lost 22 sen to RM4.07.
UPA fell 28 sen to RM2.32 but Duopharma gained 14 sen to a new record high of RM3.27 and Pharmaniaga 13 sen to RM4.75 while Apex Healthcare gained six sen to Rm3.79.
IJM gained eight sen to RM1.53 after its joint venture company secured a RM865mil maiden contract win to build a retail mall and convention centre at The Light City in Penang.
Jeweller Tomei lost 24 sen to 85 sen as gold prices slipped.
