KUALA LUMPUR: The local stock market may continue to show some consolidation next week, starting Dec 14 in the absence of strong leads from institutional players but there could be some upside for selected stocks from several positive corporate news and underpinned by a firmer close on Wall Street.
Last Friday, the 30-stocks FBM KLCI closed just 0.1 point higher to close at 1,260, driven y late support for selected big caps. The gains were seen in the finance, PROPERTIES [] and PLANTATION []s. Thee is evidently support to ensure the FBM KLCI does not slip below 1,260, the same level it has been hovering for several weeks.
On Wall Street, the Dow and S&P 500 closed up for a third straight session on Friday, Dec 11 after several solid consumer-related reports reinforced investors' confidence in a steady recovery by the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 65.67 points, or 0.63 percent, at 10,471.50. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.06 points, or 0.37 percent, at 1,106.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.55 point, or 0.03 percent, at 2,190.31.
At Bursa Malaysia, stocks to watch include Tanjong plc, TAN CHONG MOTOR HOLDINGS BHD [], Astro All Asia Networks while LCL Corp Bhd and VASTALUX ENERGY BHD [] could see more selling pressure. ETI Tech Corp saw its director disposding of his shares on Dec 9 and 10.
Stocks which could also attract interest are big caps Tenaga Nasional and Maybank and lower liners Petra Perdana and Petra Energy.
Power and gaming company Tanjong posted 3Q net profit of RM177.76 million compared with RM97.13 million a year ago as earnings were boosted by the overseas power plants. Revenue was marginally higher at RM985.17 million compared with RM986.51 million. It declared a third interim gross dividend of 17.5 sen per share.
Tan Chong Motor is making its foray into Vietnam. It received Vietnam's go-ahead to set up a subsidiary that will manufacture and assemble buses, trucks and cars. The company's total investment is expected to be US$15 million (RM50.9 million).
Astro All Asia Networks is aiming to get 500,000 of its current subscribers to take up its high-definition television (HDTV) services, or Astro B.yond, by end-2010.
ASTRO B.yond is an Internet Protocol-ready next generation set-up box that can deliver high-definition TV. Currently, Astro has 2.9 million subscribers in Malaysia, which translates to about 48% household penetration.
LCL may continue to see selling pressure after its share price fell to a historic low 22 sen, down 10 sen, with 41.4 million shares done after it said it could not repay RM72 million to two banks and it could possibly face more defaults.
Malayan Banking is set to raise its stake in Vietnam's An Binh Bank to 20% by acquiring another 5% for US$19.3 million (RM65.5 million) this month. Maybank owns 15% now.
Interest in Tenaga could perk up after Khazanah Nasional disposed of a 2% stake at RM8.10 per share for RM702.7 million. Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, which undertok the placement, said there was strong demand from institutional investors.
Khazanah was the single largest shareholder with 37.77% or 1.6 billion shares before the placement exercise, according to Tenaga's latest annual report.
Petra Perdana is believed to have placed out a 25% stake or 48.8 million shares in PETRA ENERGY BHD [] at RM1.91 for a total of RM93.208 million. However, the name of the buyer was not disclosed.
In Vastalux, vice chairman and executive director Mohamad Nor Abdul Rashid sold anothert five million shares in the open market on Dec 8, reducing his direct stake of 23.94 million shares. He had earlier disposed of 26 million shares in two transactions.
In ETI Tech, director Dennis Chuah sold 15.39 million shares on Dec 9 for 50.9 sen per share while on Dec 10, he disposed of 3.489 million shares for 49.1 sen. He had also acquired 5.546 million shares on Dec 10 at 47.2 sen.
After the recent transactions, Chuah's direct interest was reduced to 103.748 million shares or 15.24%.
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