Bursa tech stocks rally, mirroring Nasdaq gains
Analyst says overall prospects for the sector look good
PETALING JAYA: Local technology counters were some of the biggest winners on Bursa Malaysia yesterday, with the technology index posting a 3.33% gain to close at 55.31, which mirrors the Nasdaq Composite Index hitting a record high at the start of this week, according to Inter-Pacific Securities head of research, Victor Wan.
On Monday, the US techladen index close at an all time high of 10,902.80, a 157.52-point or 1.47% gain from Friday’s close of 10,745.27. The surge was driven by Apple and Microsoft, which appreciated 2.5% and 5.8% respectively, as the former expands into mobile payments via the acquisition of Mobeewave, while the latter confirmed negotiations for the acquisition of the popular video-sharing app, TikTok.
On the domestic front, although Bursa’s tech counter rally is largely due to the development on Wall Street, Wan noted that the overall prospects for the sector look good.
“For the upcoming results, tech counters are expected to fare slightly better than before, if the negative impact from the movement control order (MCO) is discounted, as the demand for technology and technology related products is still growing,” Wan told SunBiz.
At yesterday’s close, the sector’s biggest gainers were, Vitrox Corp which gained 26 sen or 2.17% to close at RM12.26, while Unisem closed 23 sen or 7.21% higher at RM3.42, and Globetronics ended 6.47% or 18 sen up at RM2.96.
Other gainers included MPI which closed at RM15.36, a 14 sen or 0.92% gain, Frontken closing at RM3.69 an 12 sen or 3.36% increase, KESM at RM8.46, a 12 sen or 1.44% gain, Inari Amertron at RM2.37, a 7 sen or 3.04% jump, and Datasonic at RM1.44, a 5 sen or 3.6% rise.
At the same time, semiconductor sales worldwide posted a 5.1% increase year on year to US$34.5 billion (RM145.61 billion) in June 2020, from the June 2019 total of
US$32.9 billion, according to the latest figures from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
On a monthly basis, semiconductor sales for June declined 0.3% from US$34.6 billion reported in May this year.
Sales for the second quarter stood at US$103.6 billion, a 5.1% increase from the same quarter of the previous year but a 0.9% contraction from Q1’20.
“Second-quarter semiconductor sales were roughly flat compared to the first quarter, and the global industry continues to post year-to-year sales increases, but significant uncertainty remains for the second half of the year due to ongoing macroeconomic headwinds,” SIA’s president and CEO, John Neuffer, said in a report.
He pointed out that the sales into Americas stood out in June, as they increased nearly 30% year to year.
Regionally, sales increased on a year-to-year basis in the Americas (29%), China (4.7%), and Asia Pacific/All Other (0.4%), but decreased in Japan (-2.2%) and Europe (-17.1%).
On a month-to-month basis, sales increased slightly in the Americas (3.1%) and Japan (1.1%), but decreased in China (-0.4%), Asia Pacific/All Others (-1.5%), and Europe (6%).