Daily Commentaries 24th Nov 06

The KLCI rose another 2.7 pts with market volume still staying about 1bn shares. Leading the way were Maxis, Transmile and MOX who all reported good results recently. It now appears that details of the possible merger between Sime, Golden Hope and Guthrie may only emerge on Monday although the Deputy PM has already stated that the Government supports the move. 3Q GDP figures where above expectations thus boosting sentiment for today. On the results front, KNM, Scomi and YTL reported strong growth while Shell and Affin reported sharp declines. Petronas’ 22% growth in 1H profits and acquisition of a 10% stake in Cairn India may provide some sentiment boost to the local O&G players while unconfirmed sources stated that AMMB had picked ANZ Bank to be its equity partner in AmBank. With the US market closed for its Thanksgiving holiday, the lack of major overseas factors should mean our market will ride on the domestic positive sentiment to march ahead to the 1,050 pts resistance level.