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.
Reaffirm OUTPERFORM call with a higher target price (TP) of RM4.48 We remain bullish on Mega First (MFCB) as more construction profits are recognized from its 80%-owned 260MW Don Sahong Hydropower project in Laos this year. Progress is expected to nearly triple (up from 16.5% to 45%- 50%) while double-digit growth is also expected from the resources segment. We reaffirm our Outperform call with a higher TP of RM4.48 (up from RM3.16) after rolling over our valuations to FY18 while also lowering our discount attached to the Don Sahong Hydropower project in light of the lower exposure risks as the plant moves closer to completion. Targeting a bigger milestone this year. The USD500m (RM2.5bn) Don Sahong hydropower project is very much on track. As the time of writing, the completion rate has reached 23% and is expected to reach about 45%- 50% by year-end. About RM362m had already been invested for excavation and foundation works last...