KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 18): Glove counters emerged as the most active in the morning trading session on Tuesday (Oct 18), as Careplus Group Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd, HLT Global Bhd and Supermax Corp Bhd were heavily traded, likely on rotational play.
Careplus saw 70.7 million shares change hands, followed by Top Glove (52.07 million), Hong Seng (36.2 million), HLT (25.76 million) and Supermax (25.52 million).
Gloves counters were also the most active on Monday, with Top Glove ending the day as the second-highest traded, with 110.5 million shares done. Careplus followed with a volume of 54.7 million, and Supermax with 50 million.
Other glove counters that turned up among the top 20 active stocks were HLT, Hartalega Holdings Bhd and Hextar Healthcare Bhd.
Top Glove settled at 72.5 sen at Tuesday's noon break, exceeding the majority of target prices (TPs) from 22 analysts, according to Bloomberg data. Research firms UOB Kay Hian and HSBC Research were the exceptions.
UOB Kay Hian analyst Philip Ching Wern Wong had a “hold” call and TP of 76 sen for Top Glove on Sept 21, while HSBC Research’s Tan Shuo Han recommended a “buy” at RM1.81 on Sept 20.
Supermax, meanwhile, settled at 87 sen at Tuesday’s noon break, surpassing the TPs of all 12 analysts covering the stock. Ching's TP for the stock was 80 sen.
Based on the latest share price, Top Glove has rebounded 23.93% from its past-one-year bottom of 58.5 sen on Sept 29. Supermax has recovered 30.83% from its low of 66.5 sen on Sept 26 over a one-year period.
A check of Bursa Malaysia announcements showed that Supermax's latest share buy-back took place on Sept 19. Supermax Holdings Sdn Bhd currently holds the largest stake in Supermax, with a 38.38% direct interest.
For Top Glove, its executive chairman Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai bought 5.5 million more shares in the glove maker, raising his total interest to 2.91 billion shares or a 36.4% stake on Oct 11. Lim is currently the largest shareholder of Top Glove.
Investments in glove manufacturers may be back in the limelight because of rotational play by investors. It was reported that a research by the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma) expects glove supply-demand equilibrium within six to nine months.