Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 6): The Technology Index on Bursa Malaysia was the top gainer on the Malaysian stock exchange as it jumped by 1.04% to 38.85 points following stronger global semiconductor sales during the first half of the year.

Global sales of semiconductors reached US$117.9 billion during the second quarter of 2018, an increase of 6% over the previous quarter and 20.5% more than the second quarter of 2017, according to the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

In a statement on its website last Friday, SIA said global sales for the month of June 2018 reached US$39.3 billion, an uptick of 1.5% over last month's total of US$38.7 billion, and a surge of 20.5% compared to the June 2017 total of US$32.6 billion.

As of writing, counters related to the semiconductor industry and tech-related players saw an uptick in their share prices.

Inari Amertron Bhd's share price edged higher by 1.24% or 3 sen to RM2.44 with about 731,000 shares changed hands.

Globetronics Technology Bhd, which has recently reported a gain of 32% in its net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018 (2QFY18), was also higher by 2.32% or 6 sen to RM2.65 with about 934,400 shares traded.

ViTrox Corp Bhd also saw its share price gained by 1.41% or 9 sen to RM6.49 with about 60,300 shares traded.

Semiconductor manufacturer Unisem (M) Bhd, which recently saw a dip in its net profit for the second quarter, also saw a recovery in its share price as it rose 1.58% or 4 sen to RM2.58 with about 517,600 shares traded.

Dataprep Holdings Bhd also saw a renewed buying interest in the company as its share price jumped by 2.22% or 0.5 sen to 23 sen with about 1.19 million shares traded.

A remisier based in Kuala Lumpur told theedgemarkets.com that the buying interest in tech counters are expected given the stellar earnings by some of the technology companies in United States such as Apple Inc.

"If you look at Apple's results, you'll see that earnings remain strong and that the demand for smartphones is still there. This is good for the semiconductor players and I think the market is responding to it. Of course, the fear on the trade tariffs has also negated some of this positive movement," he said.

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