Glove makers up in early trade following rise in Covid-19 cases in China

Glove makers up in early trade following rise in Covid-19 cases in China

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 27): Glove makers' shares were up in early trade on Tuesday (Dec 27) following a rise in Covid-19 cases in China.

At 10.15am, Top Glove Corp Bhd was the second most actively traded counter, up 7.93% at 88.5 sen apiece, with 35.9 million shares done.

Other glove makers were also among the top 20 active counters, including Careplus Group Bhd, up 7.61% at 49.5 sen, with 14.9 million shares traded, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, up 5.92% at RM1.79, with 8.6 million shares done, and Supermax Corp Bhd, up 7.7% at 90 sen, with 6.3 million shares exchanging hands.

China is beginning to lift its more stringent Covid-19 restrictions, after nearly three years in isolation. But what could mark the end of its zero-Covid policy may be just the beginning of the country's pandemic problems.

According to Reuters, China's National Health Commission had confirmed 393,067 cases with symptoms as of Dec 22.

The commission reportedly said that it would no longer publish daily Covid-19 data from Sunday, amid doubts about its reliability.

China reported no Covid-19 deaths in the mainland for the six days through Sunday, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday.

However, at the same time, funeral homes and crematoriums in the country were reportedly struggling to meet demand.

Reuters cited one Shanghai hospital as telling its staff last week to prepare for a "tragic battle" with Covid-19, as it expects half the city's 25 million people to get infected by the end of the week after Christmas.

British-based health data firm Airfinity last week estimated that China is experiencing more than a million infections and 5,000 deaths a day.

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