KUALA LUMPUR (April 17): Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) shares jumped as much as 86 sen or 7% to emerge as one of Bursa Malaysia’s top gainers today, as KLCI component stocks rose.
At the time of writing, TNB shares were still up 60 sen or 4.9% to RM12.84, giving it a market capitalisation of RM73.47 billion and making it the fifth biggest gainer in Bursa Malaysia.
TNB was also the second biggest gainer among all KLCI stocks today. The gain in TNB was in tandem with the 1.9% climb in the benchmark KLCI, as most component counters traded in the green.
Trading volume was normal at around 4 million shares, comparable to its 200-day average of 4.18 million shares.
“Perhaps investors are taking cue from the progress of Malaysia’s fight against Covid-19, with the country faring better compared with its neighbours. This could signal that the economic recovery will begin sooner,” said a fund manager.
Another analyst covering the counter suggested that foreign funds may be slowly returning to the Malaysian market, considering the nation’s performance in addressing the outbreak, and taking cue from gains in the regional space.
TNB, which sells electricity in Malaysia, is directly impacted by the level of economic activities. The country, which has been in a partial lockdown since March 18, is scheduled to end the movement control order on April 28.
After about a month under the movement control order, Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 recoveries have exceeded new infection cases for the eighth time yesterday, with 119 patients discharged against 110 new cases.
Of 5,182 confirmed infections, 2,332 cases remained active at noon yesterday, while 2,766 have recovered — bringing total recovery to 53.4% of total confirmed cases. The death toll from the illness stood at 84, representing a fatality rate of 1.62% against the global average of 5.7%.
Following the global equities sell-off in mid-March, TNB shares were not spared and fell to its 10-month low of RM11.24 — but the counter has now more than erased its losses at the time, with a gain of 6.66% from one month ago.
Analysts have suggested a slight earnings erosion for TNB amid the lockdown, but indicated that it would remain stable in the long run, being cushioned from fuel cost fluctuations.
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