KUALA LUMPUR (July 20): Export-oriented furniture makers gained investors’ interest today, backed by the weaker local currency.

The ringgit was quoted at 3.8077 per US dollar this morning.

Stocks such as Evergreen Fibreboard Bhd and Mieco Chipboard Bhd have risen to a five-year high of RM1.93 and RM1.16 respectively, while Lii Hen Industries Bhd surged to all-time high of RM5.40 in the morning trading session today.

As at 11:15am today, Evergreen Fibreboard increased nine sen or 4.95% to RM1.91, while Mieco appreciated four sen or 3.64% to RM1.14, and Lii Hen leaped 12 sen or 2.29% to RM5.35.

Nevertheless, trading volume under Evergreen Fibreboard's (fundamental: 0.85; valuation: 0.3) and Mieco (fundamental: 0.65; valuation: 0.9)’s counters were much higher at 3.33 million and 7.07 million respectively, while Lii Hen (fundamental: 2.8; valuation: 2.4) only saw 62,000 shares traded so far.

The Edge Financial Daily had on July 3, reported that the main factor contributing to the share price rally was the stronger US dollar, which resulted in Malaysian furnitures becoming cheaper for overseas buyers.

Year-to-date, the greenback has gained 8.58% against the ringgit. The ringgit closed at 3.7968 per US dollar last Friday (July 17).

(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.)