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©The Star (Used by permission)
by Joseph Chin

PETALING JAYA: The local stock market, which has come under selling pressure in recent weeks, saw the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) stepping up its acquisitions of blue chips, including telecommunications and plantation stocks, especially on July 14 and 15.

Filings with Bursa Malaysia showed that it acquired 5.1 million shares in Sime Darby Bhd, increasing its total shareholding in the plantation heavyweight to 12.9% or 775.13 million shares.

It had also raised its shareholding in IOI Corp Bhd after acquiring 4.83 million shares and raising its stake to 9.59% or 573.07 million shares.

It also bought 1.31 million shares in IJM Plantations Bhd, enlarging its stake to 43.49 million shares, or 6.8%.

EPF also took up 185,600 shares in United Plantations Bhd, in which it now has a 10.4% stake comprising 21.65 million shares.

Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) was also in focus, with the board buying 4.35 million shares and disposing of 2.08 million shares from July 10 to 17. Following these transactions, EPF now holds 453.91 million shares, or 12.69%, in TM.

The fund raised its shareholding in DiGi.Com Bhd to 68.18 million shares, or 8.77%, after buying 399,100 shares.

After buying three million shares in IJM Corp Bhd, it now owns 180 million shares, or 21%. It also acquired one million shares in YTL Corp Bhd and 1.06 million shares in YTL Power International Bhd.

Malaysian Airline System Bhd, whose shares had come under selling pressure following the record high crude oil price, saw the EPF acquiring 126,900 shares, thereby boosting its stake to 208.12 million shares, or 12.45%.

Analysts said after the recent sell-down on plantation stocks, the market was seen to have bottomed out.

They said concerns about a slowdown in economic growth and political issues had pushed the valuations of the stocks to below 2002-2003 levels.

OSK Investment Research head Kenny Yee said the KL Composite Index (KLCI) had found a strong support at the 1,090-point level.

“Looking at the volume, they (funds like EPF) are bargain hunting for stocks where value had emerged.

“From another perspective, the selling has been drying up as from today,” he said, adding that the funds were nibbling on oversold index-linked counters.

However, he said, since the rebound was not that steep, investors could still buy blue chips and stocks with good dividends. The KLCI closed 6.09 points higher at 1,109.57 yesterday but is down 325.43 points, or 22.6%, from 1,435 early this year.

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