BursaBets investors drive up glove makers’ shares

KUALA LUMPUR: Top Glove’s share price gained 40 sen or a seven per cent surge as of noon yesterday, just hours after news emerged that retail investors are behind a drive to prop up the stocks of the world’s largest medical glove maker.

Top Glove Corp Bhd’s share on Bursa Malaysia opened yesterday morning at RM7.05, a rise of over 13 per cent from Thursday. It was the highest since the stock price took a tumble at the end of June last year after its factories were shut due to Covid-19 spreading among its largely migrant workforce.

Its total net short selling position was at 239.45 million shares, or just 2.9 per cent of Top Glove’s paid up capital as at January 27, trading data from Bursa Malaysia showed.

Other local rubber glove makers also appeared to be riding on the bursabet rally.

Hartalega Holdings Bhd opened sharply higher at RM13.42 versus RM12.20 on Wednesday, coming off a mid afternoon peak of RM13.42 to end the morning session at RM12.86, gaining 66 sen or 5.41 per cent.

Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd saw its share price soar to a high of RM4.59 shortly after the opening bell, up 33 sen or 7.7 per cent from the closing of RM4.26 on Wednesday. Still, it closed at just RM4.33 or seven sen higher at the noon break.

Supermax Corp Bhd gained 16 sen or 2.44 per cent in the same period. The stock surged to a high of RM7.16 from RM6.56 before the Thaipusam break.

The rally comes as several Malaysians, inspired by the fairytale success of American amateur stock traders who helped shoot up the share price of ailing gaming retailer GameStop on Wall Street, started “bursabets”.