(Jan 23): State oil producer Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is among suitors vying for a chemicals business being sold by Lonza Group AG, people with knowledge of the situation said.
Petronas is working with an adviser as it considers a second-round bid for the Lonza Specialty Ingredients business, according to the people. Switzerland-based Lonza has asked for offers by early February, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
German chemical producer Lanxess AG and a crop of top private equity firms have also been shortlisted for the next round of bidding for the business, which could fetch around 3.5 billion Swiss francs (US$4 billion or RM15.98 billion),
At 10am, the FBM KLCI was up 6.82 points at 1,601.62.
Gainers led losers by 398 to 357, while 392 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was 1.76 billion shares valued at RM848.39 million.
The top gainers included Unisem (M) Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Public Bank Bhd and Top Glove Corp Bhd.
The actively traded stocks included Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX), Vsolar Group Bhd, Dynaciate Group Bhd, KTG Bhd and Lambo Group Bhd.
The decliners included KESM Industries Bhd, KPower Bhd. Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem), Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd (PetGas) and AEON Credit Service (M) Bhd.
As at 3.15pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI had shed 6.13 points to 1,637.77.
The overall market breadth skewed towards negative territory with losers outpacing gainers 601 to 490, while 466 counters were unchanged, 571 untraded and 22 others suspended.
Volume stood at 6.51 billion units worth RM2.81 billion.
Glove makers Hartalega Holdings Bhd slid 56 sen to RM11.90, Top Glove Corp Bhd declined 19 sen to RM6.07 and Supermax Corp Bhd weakened 31 sen to RM6.08.
Among other heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) rose four sen to RM8.58, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) added one sen to RM7.50, IHH Healthcare Bhd gained two sen to RM5.74 and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd added three sen to RM4.33, whie Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) and Maxis Bhd were flat at RM18.60 and RM5.07 respectively.
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