Without significant fresh catalysts, the local market traded lower with as 12 out of 13 sub-indices joined the FBM KLCI in the negative territories. Nevertheless, we opine that the buying interest may return, taking cues from the overnight Wall Street performance as investors cheered the positive developments from the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. We expect a broad based recovery in our local exchange.

OM Holdings Ltd (OMH) started off since 1994 and has now evolved into one of the largest vertically integrated manganese ore and ferroalloy player in South East Asia market. Greenfield of expansion of Samalaju Smelting Complex is bearing fruit, placing OMH in the pole position against its peers in terms of competitive production cost over the long term. We initiate coverage on OMH with a BUY call and fair value of RM3.65, based on 9.0x P/E pegged to its forward FY23f EPS of 40.5 sen.

The FBM KLCI fell below the key 1,600 level amid lacklustre trading as investors stayed cautious amid the lack of fresh catalyst environment. The key index may see mild consolidation over the near term with trading focus on the banking and consumer sectors as crude oil prices tumbled to trade around USD112 on the back of growing concerns over weaker fuel demand in China after several lockdown measures taken to curb Covid-19 infections.

The FBM KLCI finished higher for the second week as investors brushed off some concerns over the Russia-Ukraine conflict while looking forward to the reopening of border on 1st April 2022. We expect the recovery-themed sector to remain resilient prior to this event. Meanwhile, commodity prices are likely to remain volatile on the back of the unresolved conflict between Russia-Ukraine and the Covid-19 related restriction in China where Shanghai will be on a lockdown mode in few stages for 9 days.

Radiant Globaltech Bhd (RGTECH) is regarded as a total solution provider with services includes retail hardware, retail software, as well as maintenance and technical support services. RGTECH has also rewarded with MSC-Malaysia status on 9th December 2014.

Market sentiment continued to stay positive as buying interest in banking, gaming and O&G heavyweights lifted the FBM KLCI marginally higher. We believe the reopening of travel borders in April should revive the economic sectors in Malaysia and benefit the recovery-themed stocks. Nevertheless, sentiment may remain cautious amid the unresolved geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

The FBM KLCI swung higher as returned buying interest was noticed in banking and plantation heavyweights in the anticipation of the reopening of borders and firmer FCPO price. With the Wall Street taking a pause after a recent strong rebound, we expect the profit taking activities may spill over to the local front, especially the technology stocks. We think investors may stay cautious in the anticipation of further sanction against Russia, which may lift commodity prices another round.

Pentamaster Corporation Bhd (PENTA) is a Penang-based automation manufacturing and technology solutions provider that was established in 1991. With more than 30 years of experience, PENTA serves customers worldwide across various industries such as semiconductor, computer, automotive, electrical & electronics, pharmaceutical, medical devices, food & beverages, consumer electronics to general manufacturing.