KUALA LUMPUR (May 27): Widely viewed as one of the front runners to become the newest FBM KLCI constituent, QL Resources Bhd emerged as the fifth top gainer across Bursa at the midday break today after its shares rose 44 sen or 5.19% to RM8.91.

The counter saw some 1.61 million shares traded, slightly higher than its 200-day average trading volume of 1.04 million shares, giving it a market capitalisation of RM14.45 billion.

In a strategy note on May 22, CGS-CIMB Research said it expects Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) and QL Resources to be added as FBM KLCI constituents in the upcoming semi-annual review of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index Series on June 4.

The research house said it expects AMMB Holdings Bhd and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to be replaced by TM and QL Resources.

It said based on the share prices at the end of May 22, TM had risen to the 24th position and qualified to be included into the index, while AMMB and MAHB had fallen to the 37th position and 40th position respectively, which meant they will be deleted from the index.

CGS-CIMB said the rules specify that should there be a greater number of companies qualifiying to be deleted from an index than those that qualify to be included, then the highest-ranking constituents presently not in the index, which also meet the liquidity criteria, will be included.

“Based on this, our analysis reveals that QL Resources will be included in the FBM KLCI index for the first time as our analysis suggests KLCCP does not meet the liquidity criteria,” it said.

According to Bloomberg data, the market cap ranking of QL Resources currently stands at the 28th place across Bursa.