Kein Hing International Bhd (KEINHIN) was established since 1981 and engages in the supply of parts and metal components to various industries such as automotive, electrical & electronics, home appliances and audio-visual equipment industries. Since 2006, KEINHIN manufacture and sale of consumer products namely gas appliances under its own brand name “ZENNE”.

The FBM KLCI suffered its fourth straight session of decline, marking the longest losing streak since end of January 2022 as banking and healthcare heavyweights led losses. Given the selldown in technology stocks on Wall Street, we believe it may spillover to the tech sector on the local front. However, we still expect selected stocks in the consumer and REITs sectors to outperform the market on the back of business recovery catalyst.

Moving forward, we believe the plastic packaging demand should remain robust amid Malaysia’s transition into endemic phase and reopening of business activities. Nevertheless, challenges remain given the volatile commodity price, supply chain disruptions and labour shortage issues. BPPLAS has been putting effort in recruiting and upskilling the talents, as well as optimising its production costs.

Steep selloff in plantation heavyweights sent the FBM KLCI into the negative territory amidst mixed regional performances. Investors are likely to trade cautiously at the start of the session, prior to the release of Malaysia’s inflation rate tomorrow. Nevertheless, we believe bargain hunting activities could kick in as the concerns over inflation may have priced in and traders may focus in the recovery-themed sectors. Also, we believe buying interest may emerge in the technology stocks in line with the rebound in Wall Street.

ELK’s hire purchase receivables stood at RM468.1m as at 4Q22, representing a 10.5% decrease from the previous corresponding quarter. Although Malaysia is transitioning into endemic phase and recovering economy bodes well for ELK’s hire purchase portfolio expansion, we reckon the expansion might be gradual as ELK remained cautious to preserve its asset quality. For the furniture segment, we foresee marginal growth in the near term with more work forces returning to office.

Carimin Petroleum Bhd (CARIMIN) was established in 1989 and specialised in provision of technical and engineering support services in the oil and gas industry in Malaysia. To-date, CARIMIN has amassed and completed projects valued more than RM1.00bn with notable clients include PETRONAS Carigali, Shell, Murphy Oil, Repsol, Exxon Mobil, New Field, Petrofac, HESS and Nippon Oil.

The FBM KLCI underperformed its regional peers, due largely to final hour selldown in selected banking and commodity related heavyweights. Given the buying into the dip move on Wall Street, we expect some bargain hunting activities may emerge on the local front, especially in the technology stocks. Investors may watch out for Malaysia’s inflation rate and the US FOMC meeting minutes this week.

We note that the construction of the second jetty at Sapangar Bay Oil Terminal (SBOT) is on track for completion in 4Q22 in bid to ease the current congestion and reduce vessel waiting time. This move will boost the capacity to undertake additional port activities as current existing facilities are already accommodating approximately at 90.0% of total capacity.