FBM KLCI ends 0.2pc higher @1067.76

MALAYSIAN shares closed up 0.20 per cent today driven
by gains in plantation and property stocks, dealers said.The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 2.08 points to 1,067.76. Gainers outpaced losers 285 to 260. Trading stayed relatively lacklustre on Friday, July 10.

Investor sentiment remained cautious, as evidenced by low trading volumes. Trading volume fell from 698 million shares to 681.8 million shares. Trading volume hit a three-month low of 586 million shares on Tuesday, compared with a peak of 3.85 billion shares during the height of the rally.

Crude oil prices have slumped to below US$60 per barrel, from a year high of US$73.50 just last week. This, coupled with a slump on soyoil prices, have caused crude palm oil prices to slide to around RM2,000 per tonne (even dipping below it in the middle of the week), from a recent high of around RM2,800 per tonne.

IJM Corp, the Malaysian builder, advanced 3.7 per cent to RM5.60. The company proposed a bond sale of as much as RM700 million and the issue of as many as 134.9 million warrants to help pay for the subscription to a subsidiary’s rights offer. IJM will issue one warrant for every 10 shares held and initially sell RM500 million of medium-term notes, it said in a statement late yesterday.

IJM Plantations Bhd, 55 percent-owned by IJM Corp, this week announced a RM336.6 million rights offer. Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, the operator of Malaysia’s commercial airports, added 3.5 per cent to RM3.52, closing at its highest since June 16. Malaysia Airports said passenger traffic in May rose 1.1 per cent to 4.05 million from the same month a year earlier. Cargo freight in May dropped 22 per cent, the company said in a statement. Poh Huat Resources Holdings Bhd, the furniture maker, jumped 9.4 per cent to 58 sen, its biggest gain since April 14. The company announced a bonus issue to increase its share capital and stock liquidity. The company plans to issue 26.2 million new bonus shares on the basis of three for every 10 ordinary shares owned, it said.

Xingquan International Sports Holdings Ltd, the Chinese sports-shoe maker makes, advanced 4.1 per cent to RM1.78 on its first trading day on the Malaysian stock exchange. The shares, sold to individual investors for RM1.71 each and institutional investors for RM1.80, have a fair value of RM2.63 RHB Research Institute said in a report yesterday.