KUALA LUMPUR: Tech stocks were top gainers on Bursa Malaysia yesterday amid optimism about their earnings following better-than-expected earnings posted by a regional player.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker with clients like Apple Inc, Qualcomm Inc and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, last week reported its highest-ever quarterly net profit of NT$116.04 billion (RM15.71 billion) for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2019.

“They (TSMC) are the bellwether for the industry as a whole, and they are expecting better growth [for the current quarter] on the roll-out of 5G,” Rakuten Trade Research vice-president Vincent Lau told The Edge Financial Daily.

Local technology firms KESM Industries Bhd, Pentamater Corp Bhd and ViTrox Corp Bhd made podium finishes on Bursa Malaysia’s top gainers list yesterday.

KESM closed 4.85% or 50 sen higher at its one-year high of RM10.8, giving it a market capitalisation of RM464.56 million. It saw a total of 114,900 shares changing hands yesterday.

According to Bloomberg data, KESM has a 12-month target price (TP) of RM8.84, with three analysts issuing a “buy” call, “sell” call and “hold” call respectively.

Pentamaster gained 6.98% or 33 sen to close at an all-time high of RM5.06, with a market value of RM2.4 billion. The counter recorded a volume of 4.33 million shares.

Pentamaster has a consensus TP of RM4.92, with one “buy” call, one “sell” call and one “hold” call.

Pentamaster’s structured warrants, Warrants-CB, gained 26.14% or 11.5 sen to 55.5 sen, and Warrants–CD rose 43.14% or 11 sen to 36.5 sen.

ViTrox, too, closed at an all-time high of RM9.32 with a gain of 2.76% or 25 sen yesterday, with a market capitalisation of RM4.39 billion. Its volume stood at 710,200 shares.

ViTrox, which has a 12-month consensus TP of RM7.39 , has nine analyst calls, comprising two “buy” recommendations, three “hold” calls and four “sell” calls.

The locally listed warrants of Hong-Kong listed Xiaomi Corp were also in the limelight yesterday, jumping 130% or 13 sen to 23 sen apiece.

Bursa’s technology index posted a 0.94% or 0.38-point gain, closing at 40.80, its highest level since October 2019.

In contrast, the broader FBM KLCI closed 0.43% or 6.93 points lower at 1,588.88 yesterday.