KUALA LUMPUR (April 22): The big four rubber glove counters continued to see buying interest today, making it to the top 20 gainers on the local bourse today.

Leading the charge was Hartalega Holdings Bhd, which at 2.32pm was up by 4.15% or 42 sen to RM10.54 per share, yielding a market value of RM36.13 billion. It was the second-highest value gainer on the local bourse at the time of writing.

In third place on the top gainers' list was Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, which rose by 8.4% or 33 sen to RM4.26, valuing the company at RM10.9 billion.

Meanwhile, Supermax Corp Bhd was fourth on the top gainers' list today — gaining 4.87% or 27 sen to RM5.81, valuing the glove manufacturer at RM15.81 billion.

Top Glove Corp Bhd rounded off the top 10 gainers on Bursa Malaysia at the time of writing at 10th place on the list. The counter was up 2.94% or 16 sen higher at RM5.61 per share, giving it a market capitalisation of RM46.04 billion.

Other rubber glove manufacturers such as Comfort Gloves Bhd and Careplus Group Bhd also posted gains today.

Comfort Gloves was up 3.35% or nine sen higher to RM2.78, bringing its market capitalisation to RM1.62 billion. Meanwhile, Careplus was trading 6.25% or 13 sen higher at RM2.21, translating into a market value of RM1.22 billion.

The Health Care index, which counts rubber glove stocks as constituents, was up 2.85% or 89.65 points higher to 3,240.25 points.

Sentiment around rubber glove stocks has been lifted in the past few trading days, following the elevated numbers of Covid-19 cases in the country, which have stayed above 2,000 daily cases.