This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 6, 2020 - July 12, 2020

THE earlier part of the year saw global equity markets — Bursa Malaysia included — experiencing somewhat of a wild ride as Covid-19 reared its ugly head in early January before the contagion spread to the rest of the world by late February.

Investors would have done well to beware the Ides of March, as global stock markets were struck down with a force last seen during the global financial crisis of 2008/09.

Closer to home, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI tumbled nearly 400 points to 1,219.72 on March 19 — a day after the fledgling government of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin instituted a Movement Control Order (MCO) to contain the spread of Covid-19.

But those dark days proved short, swiftly replaced by an ebullience yet to be fully explained or understood, given the woeful state of the global and local economy.

From March 20, the local benchmark has rallied to 1,552.65 points as at last Friday, reversing much of the earlier losses. Even so, the index was 2.27% lower from its 2019 close of 1,588.76 points.

The Bursa Malaysia EMAS Index has seen a similar rebound, jumping 32%, to 10,908 points from a March low of 8,257.78.

The rally in the stock market notwithstanding, many companies are still floundering in negative territory.

Of the 905 companies that The Edge tracks, only 205 counters, or 23%, registered gains, with the rest either unchanged or down.

Clear winners in the health pandemic are rubber glove makers, given the tremendous demand for personal protection equipment, especially gloves.

Indeed, the manner in which rubber glove counters have skyrocketed day after day, following the pandemic, has fuelled the market rally. In short, the bull in the equity market revolves around the Covid-19 theme.

Happily for investors of these companies, the bullishness appears unabated.

The combined market value of Top Glove Corp Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd — two of the world’s largest rubber glove makers — has shot up by a combined RM56.9 billion over the first six months of the year — and continues to inch up.

Valued at RM44.04 billion, Hartalega is now the seventh-largest company on Bursa Malaysia, with Top Glove a notch below at RM43.37 billion.

The jumps in value were spectacular, as Hartalega was worth a mere RM18.48 billion at the beginning of the year, and Top Glove, RM12.03 billion.

Their burgeoning market capitalisation has made them far more valuable than all the banking stocks, except for Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Public Bank Bhd.

Technology is another star sector that has emerged in recent months on the back of a visible V-shaped recovery mirroring the performance of the so-called FAANG stocks (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) on Wall Street.

Not surprisingly, the Bursa Malaysia Technology Index was 41 points, or 8.18%, higher as at end-June, from 37.91 at the beginning of the year.

Perhaps one surprise has been how well the “new kids” on the tech block have done. UWC Bhd and Greatech Technology Bhd, which were listed only in the middle of last year, have made stupendous gains of 73.6% and 61.23% respectively, and lead the pack.

The old favourites, Pentamaster Corp Bhd and Vitrox Corp Bhd, made lesser gains of 13% to 15%, while Inari Amertron Bhd added only a marginal 0.9%.

On the other hand, banking stocks — considered the standard bearer for the FBM KLCI, as they make up more than a third of the total benchmark index weightage — have been ravaged, damaged by the fragile economy and the government’s imposition of a six-month loan moratorium for bank borrowers.

Apart from Maybank, which slipped 8.56% in the first six months, most other banking counters have registered double-digit share price drops, with the worst hit being CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, which is 28.74% lower.

The Edge has compiled a list of Bursa Malaysia’s star performers as well as losers for the first half of 2020. The stocks are categorised based on market capitalisation.

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