Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 3): Glovemakers' shares retreated today on profit-taking, following a series of gains recorded late last month on better prospects expected, amid the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

At press time, Top Glove Corp Bhd was down 7 sen or 1.2% at RM5.78, while Hartalega Holdings Bhd fell 13 sen or 2.2% to RM5.79; Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd lost 10 sen or 2.04% to RM4.80, and Supermax Corp Bhd fell 6 sen or 3.37% to RM1.72.

Year-to-date, the four counters are still up between 5% and 25%.

Other glovemakers who were also in the red include Comfort Glove Bhd (down 3.33%), Rubberex Corp (M) Bhd (down 7.09%), and Careplus Group Bhd (down 9.38%).

Shares of glovemakers peaked on Jan 28 this year, with several counters hitting record-high on expectations of growing demand, amid the Wuhan virus outbreak.

According to a PublicInvest research note on Jan 29, the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association revealed glove players have recently received urgent demand requests from China.

“Utilization rates for glove counters under our coverage are currently running at 88% and we believe that there is room for the glove makers to ramp up further to around 95%, to meet the urgent shipment requests from China,” the research house said.

At press time, there were 17,393 confirmed cases of the Wuhan virus outbreak across 27 countries, with 361 deaths in China and one confirmed death of a Wuhan citizen recorded in the Philippines last weekend.  

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