KUALA LUMPUR (May 25): Rubber glove counters continued to lose momentum today, as investors offloaded their shares following the rise in Covid-19 vaccination rates in the country.

At 10.16am, three rubber glove heavyweights, namely Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd and Supermax Corp Bhd, remained as top laggards among the 30 FBM KLCI counters.

Hartalega, which was also among the top losers on the broader market, lost 15 sen to RM9.33, Supermax was 14 sen lower at RM4.35, and Top Glove declined eight sen to RM5.18.

Meanwhile, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd shed four sen to RM4.11, Careplus Group Bhd shrank 11 sen to RM2.35, Comfort Gloves Bhd eased two sen to RM2.22 and Rubberex Corp (M) Bhd was unchanged at RM1.17.

Commenting on this, MIDF head of research Imran Yassin Md Yusof said with another round of AstraZeneca vaccine opened for registration starting May 26, investors expect demand for gloves to eventually normalise starting next year.

“However, we should note that this is not definitive and we may see a rebound in glove stocks, should Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the next couple of weeks,” he told Bernama.

Malaysia reported 61 new deaths, a record number of Covid-19 fatalities on Monday, with new infections at 6,509, making the country’s new daily cases remaining above the 6,000-mark for the sixth consecutive day.