KUALA LUMPUR (July 20): The FBM KLCI clawed back to positive zone at the midday break amid some choppy trade and high trading volume, against the backdrop of downbeat regional markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI rose 0.40 points to 1,596.73. The index had earlier slipped to a low of 1,592.25.

Gainers led losers by 373 to 342, while 664 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume surged to 8.06 billion shares valued at RM3.14 billion.

The top gainers included Top Glove Corp Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Bursa Malaysia Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Dufu Technology Corp Bhd and Comfort Gloves Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included Lambo Group Bhd, Eduspec Holdings Bhd, Pegasus Heights Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd, XOX Bhd, NetX Holdings Bhd, Priceworth International Bhd and Vsolar Group Bhd.

The decliners included Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd, Maxis Bhd, Can-One Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Mesiniaga Bhd and Cypark Resources Bhd.

Reuters said Asian shares were downbeat on Monday with oil and copper also soft, as a spike in global coronavirus cases hung over markets awaiting efforts from the euro zone and United States to stitch together fiscal stimulus plans to fight the pandemic.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.2%, reversing early gains after E-mini futures for the S&P 500 turned negative to be down 0.4%, it said.

Kenanga Research in a strategy note today said last week’s earnings and target price upgrades on Top Glove (outperform [OP]; TP: RM32.00) and Hartalega (OP; TP: RM22.30) by its healthcare analyst led the research house to raise the FBM KLCI’s year-end target from 1,531 to 1,618.

“And, with the recent strong price gains of the other two large glove makers Supermax (OP; TP: RM17.10) and Kossan (OP; TP: RM14.00), they have fairly promising chances of making it into the FBM KLCI at the next review’s cut-off in November, if they finish the year strongly as per expectations.

“The crowding into the gloves sector due not only to their potential enlargement in index representations but also passive healthcare ETF inflows from abroad will structurally elevate the PE multiple of the FBM KLCI, which may eventually place Malaysian equity market at an increased premium over those in the rest of ASEAN," it said.