Penny stocks attract interest, volume surges

Monday July 28, 2008 MYT 6:16:58 PM
Penny stocks attract interest, volume surges
By JOSEPH CHIN

KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips ended the morning session firmer Monday while the improving sentiment saw some rising interest in penny stocks like Tebrau Teguh, Equine and Iris.

At 12.30pm, the KL Composite Index had risen 13.26 points to 1,155, the FBM Emas added 88.89 points to 7,667.61 and the FBM Second Board rose 33.21 points to 5,452.12.

Turnover surged to 440 million shares valued at RM454.18mil. There were 367 gainers, 115 lowers and 162 stocks unchanged.

Crude oil was trading at US$123.41 while crude palm oil (CPO) rose RM80 to RM3,150. The ringgit was at 3.2620 to the US$1.

Shanghai’s A Share Index advanced 1.48% to 3,050.2, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched up 0.25% to 22,798.02, Japan’s Nikkei 225 0.21% higher at 13,363.32 while Singapore’s Straits Times Index was almost flat at 2,922.97.

At Bursa Malaysia, penny stocks rose in active trade with Equine surging 18.5 sen to 63.5 sen, Tebrau Teguh added 7.5 sen to 59 sen, MK Land up 1.5 sen to 22 sen and Iris one sen to 10.5 sen despite the lack of fresh corporate news.

Ranhill jumped 19 sen to RM1.46 after securing shareholders’ approval to take over subsidiary Ranhill Utilities.

DiGi was the top gainer, up 60 sen to RM24.50, while Tenaga, MISC foreign and Bursa rose 25 sen to RM8.35, RM8.55 and RM7.15 respectively while Tanjong added 20 sen to RM13.80.

Glenealy Plantations rose 60 sen to RM5.20 in thin trade while KL Kepong added 50 sen to RM13.60, TH Planations 16 sen to RM3.40 and Sarawak Plantations 16 sen to RM3.28 while Asiatic rose 15 sen to RM6.35.

Axis Inc. was the top loser, tumbling 28 sen to RM1.38. Goodway fell 15 sen to 70 sen, DeGem 13 sen to 77 sen and KFCH 10 sen to RM6.10.