Glove makers remain in the red on weaker growth outlook
KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 27): Glove makers were among the top losers on Monday as investors continue to weigh in on their weaker growth outlook.
At noon break, Supermax Corp Bhd and Top Glove Corp Bhd both fell to their lowest in 16 months.
Supermax slid 10 sen or 4.31% to RM2.22; Top Glove slipped 10 sen or 3.64% to RM2.65.
Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd also dropped to their lowest in 21 months.
Kossan shed seven sen or 3.03% to RM2.24, while Hartalega decreased by three sen or 0.54% to RM5.50.
Their smaller peers such as Careplus Group Bhd, Comfort Gloves Bhd and Rubberex Corporation (M) Bhd also fell to their lowest in 16 months.
Careplus declined by six sen or 4.88% to RM1.17; Comfort Gloves lost four sen or 3.08% to RM1.26; Rubberex slid 2.5 sen or 4.03% to 59.5 sen.
“Many investors are expecting glove average selling price to go down further and quickly, so glove makers' profit will drop in the next quarter,” said Rakuten Trade Research vice president for equity research Thong Pak Leng, who did not expect the downtrend so quickly.
He opined that some investors may think the glove makers' profits will drop faster than expected.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Research head of Research Kenny Yee said that apart from becoming a short selling target, glove makers are also facing weaker growth outlook.
He expects the downtrend to continue due to weak sentiment in the sector.
Hartalega, Supermax, Top Glove and Kossan emerged as short selling targets last Friday.
A total of 1.14 million shares in Hartalega worth RM6.32 million were shorted by investors.
Meanwhile, Kossan saw investors shorted 1.03 million shares worth RM2.38 million; Supermax saw investors shorted 299,400 shares worth RM680,396.
A total of 20,300 shares in Top Glove worth RM55,136 were also shorted by investors.
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/glove-makers-remain-red-weaker-growth-outlook
