KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 11): The country's major glove makers saw their share price come under selling pressure due to a rise in the price of raw materials and the ringgit's appreciation against the US dollar.

"One of the raw materials namely synthetic rubber has climbed by 30% from its recent low which caused the margin squeeze for the glove counters," Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd research head Pong Teng Siew told theedgemarkets.com.

The Malaysian Rubber Exchange centrifuged latex price surged about 30% to RM5.925 per kg, from RM4.54 per kg on Sept 14, 2016, according to Bloomberg data.

Hartalega Holdings Bhd, which recently announced a RM900 million capital expenditure to construct new plants, was amongst the top 10 decliners of the day.

As at 3.20pm, the counter was traded down 13 sen or 1.88% at RM6.77, with a volume of some 280,100 shares, giving it a market capitalisation of RM11.17 billion.

Over the past 12 months, the stock has been trading between RM4.30 and RM7.40.

Supermax Corp Bhd was also down 3 sen or 1.64% at RM1.80, with 182,500 shares exchanged for a market capitalisation of RM1.22 billion.

The latex medical glove manufacturer has been trading in a 52-week range of RM1.77 to RM2.38.

Top Glove Corp Bhd was down 3.40% or 19 sen to RM5.39 at 3.35pm, with 2.25 million shares traded, for a market capitalisation of RM6.89 billion.

Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd fell 2.43% or 17 sen to RM6.83 with 95,000 shares done, for a market capitalisation of RM4.41 billion.

Bloomberg data shows ringgit standing strong at the 4.20 level against the greenback, continuing its upward momentum from the past week.

"Unless the demand rises to be stronger than the impact felt from currency fluctuation, export-oriented counters will continue to decline with the strengthening of the ringgit," said remisier Loo Boon How when contacted.

While there is a downtrend in the share price across these rubber glove counters, Loo noted that it is not by a large degree and there could be internal factors coming into play.

"There may be some investors taking profit, and also, some of these glove makers have recently rebounded from the low of their share prices, which may suggest a self-adjustment apart from external factors," he added.

The ringgit appreciation's impact to these glove makers could prove to be only temporary, opined Lim Sai Wai, vice president of AmInvestment Bank retail research.

"Forex movements are to be passed on to consumers," Lim said, adding however that there is usually a lag effect.