SHARES of CapitaMalls Asia (CMA) yesterday hit their highest price level since listing, gaining 14 cents or 5.9 per cent from the day before to close at $2.50. The counter was one of the most heavily traded, with more than 79.4 million shares changing hands.
According to market speculation, investors could be showing more interest in CMA because of its impending inclusion in the MSCI Singapore Index. This will ‘likely prompt funds looking to track that benchmark to buy shares in the group’, said a Dow Jones report yesterday.
MSCI Barra announced on Nov 25 that CMA would be added to the MSCI Singapore Index with effect from Dec 10.
But that news did not seem to filter into the market until yesterday. In a note, CIMB said CMA’s weighting in the index is expected to range from 1.9 to 2.5 per cent, going by the stock’s market capitalisation and free float. It expects the counter to ‘outperform’, with a target price of $2.77.
CMA, the retail arm of property group CapitaLand, debuted on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Wednesday last week. Its close of $2.50 yesterday was 38 cents or 17.9 per cent up from its issue price of $2.12.
Several analysts are optimistic about CMA’s prospects because of its large portfolio of malls in Asia, particularly China. ‘CMA is a beneficiary of Asia’s unparalleled consumer growth story,’ wrote DMG & Partners analysts Brandon Lee and Jonathan Ng in a Nov 24 note. Its listing ’should add a new dimension to investors’ stock selection’, they added.
Source: Business Times, 4 Dec 2009
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