This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on June 9, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Glove makers saw their shares rise yesterday as rubber prices fell for the second consecutive week to a year-to-date low.

At noon yesterday, the price of natural centrifuged latex had fallen to RM5.73 per kg, down 60 sen or 9.48% from RM6.33 at the beginning of the month.

“The drop in rubber prices should exceed any losses from the appreciation of the ringgit [against the US dollar],” said an analyst who declined to be named.

Based on technical charts, the same analyst told The Edge Financial Daily that both natural and synthetic rubber prices looked likely to trend lower.

Hartalega Holdings Bhd led gainers across Bursa Malaysia with a 53 sen or 8.19% increase in its share price to a record high of RM7 per share. The counter saw 3.61 million shares exchanged.

Top Glove Corp Bhd also featured in the list of top gainers, rising 24 sen or 4.36% to a one-year high of RM5.74 with 7.01 million shares done.

The group saw Affin Hwang Capital Research raise its target price to RM6.50 yesterday, ahead of the release of its results for the third quarter ended May 31, 2017.

According to Affin Hwang, Top Glove is expected to see its earnings rebound sharply year-on-year albeit off a low base, and to see an improvement in average selling prices, driving margin expansion.

Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd also saw an uptick in investor interest, gaining 24 sen or 3.94% to RM6.33 per share after having fallen from RM6.36 over the past two days.

Meanwhile, Supermax Corp Bhd rose eight sen or 4%, closing at RM2.08 with 3.77 million shares traded.

Small-cap stock Careplus Group Bhd’s share price hit a new one-year high of 41 sen after climbing two sen or 5.13%  yesterday. The stock had surged 11 sen or 35.48%, from 31 sen on May 26. It has a market capitalisation of RM198.14 million.