KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed almost flat on Tuesday as buying interest rotated away from index heavyweights towards smaller-cap construction stocks, with sentiment affected by geopolitical uncertainty, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.39 of a point to 1,714.40 from Monday’s close of 1,714.79. The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,713.14 and moved between 1,710.44 and 1,714.50 throughout the trading session. The broader market was almost evenly balanced, with decliners leading gainers 548 to 546, while 598 counters were unchanged, 1,107 were untraded and 25 were suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.13 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Monday.
Upgrade outperform with an unchanged target price (TP) of RM1.31 DRB-Hicom (DRB) reported a net loss of RM309.6m in 2QFY17 (2QFY16: net profit of RM3.9m). Cumulatively, its 1HFY17 net loss was RM478.9m. Excluding one-off loss on re-measurement of previously held equity interest in Pos Malaysia of RM130.2m as well as forex loss on borrowings and payables of RM98.3m, the core net loss for 1HFY17 was RM250.4m. It was below our and market expectations, making up 57% and more than 100% of full-year loss estimates. Its revenue for 2QFY17 increased by 5.7% QoQ to RM2.6bn, on the back of higher sales volume for Proton (+5.1%). Given a sharp fall of 27% in DRB’s share price since October, our unchanged TP of RM1.31 suggests a potential upside of 34%. We see the completion of its foreign strategic partner exercise as near term catalyst. Hence, we upgrade our call on DRB to Outperform . Automotive division. DRB’s automotive division recorded 2Q17 pre-tax ...