KUALA LUMPUR (July 20): AirAsia Bhd rose on lower crude oil prices and after the budget airline announced last week of its inaugural flight to Kaohsiung, Taiwan from Kuala Lumpur.

At 12:30pm today, AirAsia (fundamental: 0.2 valuation: 1.4) rose five sen or 4% to settle at RM1.33. The stock saw some 32 million shares changed hands.

AirAsia was the second top-active counter across Bursa Malaysia.
 
A remisier told theedgemarkets.com that AirAsia's inaugural flight to Kaohsiung was widely reported. He said the news had created a sensation among investors.

“AirAsia attracts trading opportunities, because of the news flow,” he said.

Lower crude oil prices could have also augured well for AirAsia, in anticipation that cheaper jet fuel will improve the airline's profit.

Reuters reported Brent September crude was 12 cents lower at US$56.98 a barrel by 0316 GMT. The benchmark had fallen nearly 3 percent last week and more than 10 percent for the month.

U.S. crude futures, also known as West Texas Intermediate, was down 17 cents at US$50.72 on Monday, after falling more than 3 percent last week and more than 14 percent in July. The August contract expires on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, investors might have taken the cue from AirAsia's group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, after he said on Twitter that AirAsia had obtained incentives from Langkawi International Airport.

“Huge huge day for Airasia. Got airport incentives for Langkawi. Langkawi, hub a dream of mine for last 13 years, a reality.

“Going to mount many flights from Langkawi. Great for Langkawi Malaysia tourism. More airports now see the power of AirAsia,” he wrote recently.
 
(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)