KUALA LUMPUR: Sarawak-related stocks were actively traded yesterday amid concerns over succession plans for the state following the passing of Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem.
A random check by NST Business showed that six out of 10 Sarawak-based stocks saw higher trade volumes, with two taking a hit in terms of share price.
Trading of the stocks hit their peak between 2.30pm and 4pm after news about Adenan’s passing filtered through.
Adenan, who was admitted to the Kota Samarahan Heart Centre on Sunday, died of heart complications at 1.24pm, just a few days before his 73rd birthday on January 27.
Share prices of construction firm Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) and power supplier Sarawak Cable Bhd fell yesterday.
CMS lost 2.02 per cent, or 0.8 sen, to RM3.89 on increased volume of 1.46 million shares from 1.35 million on Tuesday, while Sarawak Cable dropped 1.89 per cent, or 0.2 sen, to close at RM1.04, with 447,1000 shares changing hands compared with 240,300 in the preceding day.
Alliance DBS analyst Toh Woo Kim said the share price movement was a knee-jerk reaction from mostly retail investors who were concerned about power succession and policy sustainability following the passing of the chief minister.
“I believe that this is just an over-reaction and this kind of response happens often when something unexpected like this takes place,” said Toh, who has a coverage on CMS.
“The effect would be short-term and going forward, it will be business as usual as investors wait for the new chief minister. What happens next will rely largely on the new chief minister’s policies,” he added.
Toh said these uncertainties would probably die out within the week.
Jupiter Research director Nazarry Rosli said the active trading in the Sarawak-based shares might be due to speculators wanting to take advantage of the situation.
“There are a lot of uncertainties right now and when these things happen, it is always sell first, ask later. This could be the situation that we are facing right now,” he added.
Echoing Toh, Nazarry said the scenario was a short-term impact and things would settle almost immediately.
Ta Ann Holdings Bhd, Naim Holdings Bhd, Hock Seng Lee Bhd (HSL) and Weida (M) Bhd also saw higher trade volumes than before.
TA Ann closed unchanged at RM4.16 with 679,100 shares changing hands compared with 645,500 on Tuesday, while HSL edged up one sen to RM1.66 with 126,900 units traded compared with a measly 27,000 previously.
Naim remained unchanged at RM1.66 with 101,800 shares traded, up from 61,000 previously and Weida saw 136,000 shares changing hands compared with 28,000 units previously, although the stock remained unchanged at RM1.77.
Only Dayang Enterprise Bhd, which closed unchanged at RM1.07, and Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, which gained one sen to RM3.90, traded on lower volumes.
Dayang saw 1.11 million shares change hand, down from 1.69 million on Tuesday, and for Sarawak Oil Palms, 351,4000 units were traded, down from 429,400 previously.