Markets surge, Citigroup sets KLCI target of 1,449

KUALA LUMPUR: Asian markets surged in early trade on Thursday, with the key indices up between 1.5% and 2.3%, boosted by the strong close on Wall Street while the KLCI continued its advance, aided by gains in DiGi, MISC and Sime Darby.

At 10am, the KLCI was up 8.90 points to 1,262.54. Turnover was 131.13 million shares valued at RM228.98mil. There were 213 gainers, 91 losers while 191 counters were unchanged.

Citigroup Equity Research said the Malaysian market was bottoming out and it set its year-end target for the KLCI at 1,449. It said discounting the global equities meltdown, the market was hit by the shocking 12th General Election results where the ruling coalition lost its two-thirds majority.

“A lot of the bad news is already in the price. In an illiquid market like Malaysia, we urge investors to start positioning,” it said.

Asian markets rallied, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 2.33% or 306.10 points to 13,452.23, Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 1.77% to 3,141.99 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index opened 2.06% or 491.51 points higher at 24,369.86. The Shanghai A Share Index rose 0.39% to 3,467.28.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 256.80 points, or 2.08%, to close at 12,619.27 Wednesday after Intel Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co and other blue chips reported earnings, providing a reassurance to investors who worried a weak economy would sap corporate profits.

JPMorgan and Wells Fargo & Co’s solid earnings lifted investors’ sentiment as they were hoping that big banks would fare better than rivals in coping with the turmoil in the housing and credit markets.

Intel affirmed its profit-margin target for 2008, soothing concerns about falling chip prices and a pullback in spending by businesses and consumers.

At Bursa Malaysia, Hartalega staged a strong debut, opening at RM1.95, which was 15 sen above its offer price of RM1.80. It was the most active with 14.82 million shares done.

DiGi extended its winning streak, up 60 sen to RM24.80, MISC added 35 sen to RM9.30 while Sime Darby, Parkson and Asiatic gained 20 sen each to RM9.40, RM6.50 and RM8.40 respectively.

Telekom fell 10 sen to RM11 as investors locked in gains. CCM, LPI and ICP lost 10 sen each to RM2.70, RM11.50 and RM3.10 respectively.