MY Morning Wrap | EcoWorld Malaysia Unit to Acquire Land in Johor for Affordable Housing
Good morning mooers! Here are things you need to know about today's market:
●US stocks rebound, led by tech giants and chipmakers
●Malaysia's IPO market remains active, led by quality issuers: Deloitte report
●Malaysia's new vehicle sales expected to soften in 2024, following record high in 2023
●Stocks to watch: Eco World, Widad
-moomoo News MY
Wall Street Summary
US stocks rebounded, with the $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US$ closing 0.9% higher after two straight sessions of declines, buoyed by gains in tech giants such as $Apple(AAPL.US$ and $NVIDIA(NVDA.US$. Chipmakers also dominated as the improving outlook for $Taiwan Semiconductor(TSM.US$ fueled optimism of a global recovery in demand. Declining jobless claims are also supporting the thesis for a soft landing that could support consumer spending and corporate margins. The tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US$ advanced 1.4%, while the $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US$ gained 0.5%. However, fading hopes of massive interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year are still contributing to negative sentiment.
Breaking News
Malaysia's IPO Market Remains Active, Led by Quality Issuers: Deloitte Report
According to Deloitte's South-East Asia IPO Capital Market 2023 Full Year Report, Malaysia's IPO market remained vibrant in 2023, with 32 listings compared to 35 in 2022, while the IPO amount raised held steady at US$790 million (RM3.73 billion) and the IPO market capitalisation saw an increase of 18% to US$2.99 billion. The report added that the total amount of funds raised remained above pre-Covid-19 levels, despite normalisation of interest rates and a rather downbeat economic outlook at the start of the year. A formidable IPO pipeline is expected in 2024, buoyed by a healthy institutional and retail appetite, especially for consumer and tech or tech-related industries, according to Deloitte Malaysia's disruptive events advisory leader, Wong Kar Choon.
Malaysia's New Vehicle Sales Expected to Soften in 2024, Following Record High in 2023
New vehicle sales, or total industry volume (TIV), in Malaysia are expected to soften in 2024 amid a lack of catalysts, following a strong finish for the country's automotive industry in 2023, where TIV hit a record high of 799,731 units, up 11% year-on-year. Kenanga Research projects that TIV this year will soften to 710,000 units, while RHB Research forecasts an even lower TIV of 625,000 units for 2024. The projections were lower than the industry forecast of 740,000 units by the Malaysian Automotive Association. Kenanga Research expects the impending fuel-subsidy rationalisation to weigh on demand for mid-market models, but sales of affordable vehicles should remain good. Meanwhile, excitement is building in the electric vehicle (EV) segment with the new launches of BYD Seal and Tesla Model 3 and the expected introduction of the first locally made national EVs (by Perodua and Proton) in 2025.
Stocks to Watch
$ECOWLD(8206.MY$: Eco Botanic 3 Sdn Bhd, a unit of Eco World Development Group Bhd (EcoWorld Malaysia), is set to acquire land in Pulai, Johor from River Retreat Sdn Bhd for RM450.13 million on which it will build affordable housing. The company has signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement with River Retreat and a conditional development agreement with Permodalan Darul Ta'zim Sdn Bhd, which has nominated Eco Botanic 3 as the developer of the land. This is the second land acquisition in Iskandar Malaysia by the group in less than five months, following a proposed acquisition of industrial land in Kulai, Johor in September 2023.
$WIDAD(0162.MY$: Widad Group Bhd, which received an unusual market activity (UMA) query from Bursa Securities as its share price hit limit down on Thursday, said it is discussing several business proposals in its UMA reply. However, these discussions are at preliminary stages, the company said. Widad's share price dropped 30 sen or 61% to 19 sen, erasing RM937.56 million of its market cap in a day, leaving it with RM582.44 million, down from Wednesday's RM1.52 billion when the stock closed at 49 sen. The company was the day's second most actively traded stock on Bursa with 124.99 million shares changing hands.
$PANTECH(5125.MY$: Pantech Group Holdings Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Nov 30, 2023 (3QFY2024) dropped 38.98% to RM21.15 million from RM34.66 million the year before, mainly due to softer sales in both its trading and manufacturing divisions. The pipes, valves and fittings manufacturer recorded RM221.44 million revenue for 3QFY2024, down 26.17% from RM299.94 million a year earlier. The company declared a 1.5 sen per share dividend for the quarter to be paid on March 26, bringing its year-to-date dividends to 4.5 sen per share.
$ARTRONIQ(0038.MY$: Artroniq Bhd said it is investigating the factors contributing to the recent share price volatility after hitting limit-down two days in a row. However, the company emphasised that its business operations remain unaffected and that its strategic initiatives in key sectors are advancing as planned.
$TANCO(2429.MY$: Tanco Holdings Bhd, whose share price suddenly tumbled as much as 26.72% on Thursday, said it has no idea what could be driving down its share price. The sudden drop prompted Bursa to suspend the counter's intraday short selling and send it an unusual market activity (UMA) query. Tanco said its only recent corporate development was the Monday announcement about having secured approval from the Transport Ministry to build a smart AI container port in Negeri Sembilan.
$PA(7225.MY$: PA Resources Bhd has secured an extension of supply agreement from First Solar, Inc, First Solar Malaysia Sdn Bhd and First Solar Vietnam Manufacturing Co Ltd to supply goods for production of photovoltaic modules. The total contract is valued at up to RM1.08 billion (US$231.9 million) for the contract period of Jan 2, 2024 till July 1, 2025 and may be renewed by First Solar for another one-year period. PA Resources said it has received the renewal of the master supply agreement from First Solar, which supersedes an earlier agreement signed in March 2022 for a contract period from Jan 2, 2024 till July 1, 2024.
$MERCURY(8192.MY$: Mercury Securities Group Bhd, which received an unusual market activity (UMA) query from Bursa Securities after its shares hit a limit-down on Wednesday, said it is in talks to purchase a business that fits the group's current operations. However, the brokerage added that the terms and conditions of the purchase have yet to be finalised. The company made the statement in a filing on Thursday in response to the UMA query.
Source: Dow Jones Newswires, Bursa Malaysia, The Malaysian Reserve, The Star, The EDGE
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