KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — The optimism over vaccine has continued to bolster the pharmaceutical counters with Duopharma and Pharmaniaga emerging among the top gainers.
At 10.46 am, Duopharma added 28 sen, or more than nine per cent, to RM3.38 with 14.3 million shares changing hands, while Pharmaniaga up six per cent, or 28 sen, to RM4.77 with 2.6 million shares traded.
News on the resumption of AstraZeneca’s clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom raised hopes.
However, it was reported that AstraZeneca has not received the green light from the US, Brazilian and South African regulators to resume the trials.
The trials were halted after participants experienced serious neurological symptoms.
On the other hand, glove stocks were mostly in the red as the optimism caused investors to dump related counters led by Top Glove, which lost 23 sen to RM8.35.
Top Glove may also be affected by news that a New Zealand supplier of personal protective equipment (PPE) has stopped the import of disposable gloves linked to the company, following concerns about forced migrant labour, an analyst said.
Other leading losers were Supermax, dropping by 57 to RM8.43, Rubberex shedding 32 sen to RM5.31 and Comfort Gloves declining 26 sen to RM4.11.
However, Hartalega remained strong at RM13.52, increasing 52 sen, and Kossan was 36 sen higher at RM11.46.
— Bernama
