Daily Commentaries 19th Mar 07

Trading volume on the market dwindled further last Friday to under 1bn with most investors staying on the sidelines. However, there were no short of newsflows beginning with the much touted award of the WiMAX spectrums to 4 companies, Genting's disposal of its paper and packaging business, Genting Sanyen, Proton is likely to see the emergence of a local partner again in the form of DRB-Hicom while the stalled double-tracking project is back into play. KUB has also aborted the deal to acquire Samudra while MAS is likely to cancel the order for A380s. The rumour mill has been awashed with news of a probable lifting of the Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT) that could fuel further interest on property counters. While external concerns should still cap sentiment on the local bourse, the emergence of fresh leads including upcoming major IPOs- JCY and Bright Focus- should mitigate the downside pressure on the KLCI. Support is at the 1159 level with strong resistance at the 1200 mark.