According to a news report, the property developer is in negotiations with overseas creditors on a restructuring plan to work out over RM141.01 billion (US$30 billion) in defaulted debt and other claims.
The report said Evergrande is the world’s most heavily indebted real estate developer and is at the centre of a property market crisis that drags China’s economic growth down.
Nevertheless, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said bargain-hunting activities are expected to emerge on the local front, buoyed by the positive developments in the US.
Yesterday, US President Joe Biden signed a stopgap bill to avert the shutdown passed by Congress until Nov 17, 2023.
“Thus, we expect the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) index to trend higher to within the 1,430-1,440 range today,” Thong told Bernama.
At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI fell 0.30 of-a-point to 1,423.87 from last Friday’s closing of 1,424.17.
The index opened 0.10 of-a-point easier at 1,424.07.
On the broader market, decliners surpassed gainers 155 to 131, while 265 counters were unchanged, 1,744 untraded and eight suspended.
Turnover stood at 169.92 million units worth RM72.89 million.
Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank and CIMB improved 1 sen to RM8.80 and RM5.44 respectively, and Public Bank added 2 sen to RM4.08, while Tenaga Nasional lost 8 sen to RM9.91 and Petronas Chemicals fell 2 sen to RM7.17.
Of the actives, Evergreen and Kinergy added 0.5 sen to 43 sen and 34.5 sen, respectively, and Parkson edged up 1 sen to 31.5 sen, while Tanco Holdings and Widad were unchanged at 55 sen and 51 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 0.93 of-a-point to 10,581.34, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 1.94 points to 10,242.56, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 11.02 points to 10,863.5.
The FBM ACE Index dropped 20.55 points to 5,154.69 and the FBM 70 Index slid by 1.77 points to 14,191.5.
Sector-wise, the industrial products and services index gained 0.24 of-a-point to 171.73, the financial services index rose 34.99 points to 15,953.16, and the energy index went up 4.12 points to 897.86.
However, the plantation index fell 8.63 points to 6,871.72.