MY Morning Wrap | YTL Power Set to Deploy and Manage Nvidia's AI Supercomputer in Johor

On Tuesday, stocks closed higher, recovering from a morning pullback as investors reacted to Nvidia's announcement of a large computer chip for AI processing at its GTC event on Monday night. The market is now awaiting the FOMC policy statement on Wednesday, with a 99% chance of no rate change priced in. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ climbed 0.56% to a new record close of 5,178.51, marking its 18th record close of the year. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ climbed 0.83%, while the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ rose 0.54%.

The plantation sector is experiencing mixed reactions as poor downstream margins are expected to continue dragging down earnings of large integrated players for another two quarters, including IOI Group Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, and Sime Darby Plantation Bhd. While specialty oils and fats are expected to enjoy better margins, smaller and more upstream-centric players have nudged the $Bursa Plantation (0025I.MY)$ up by 3% since Q4 2023. Kenanga Research expects upstream margins to improve this year and in 2025, with firm but flattish crude palm oil (CPO) prices in an easier operating cost environment. UOB Kay Hian Research maintains its "overweight" call on the sector, but advises investors to trim holdings in companies with smaller earnings growth.

$YTLPOWR (6742.MY)$: YTL Power International has established YTL AI Cloud, a specialised provider of GPU-based accelerated computing to deploy and manage an advanced supercomputer on Nvidia Grace Blackwell-powered DGX Cloud. The supercomputer will be utilised for accelerating the development of generative AI. YTL Power is one of the first companies to adopt the Nvidia GB200 NVL72, a multi-node, liquid-cooled, rack-scale system with fifth-generation NVLink. The supercomputer will be interconnected through the Nvidia Quantum InfiniBand networking platform.

$EITA (5208.MY)$: Eita Resources Bhd said its 60%-owned unit has won a RM47.96 million contract from Tenaga Nasional Bhd to supply a new outdoor transmission substation in Ayer Puteh, Perak. The scope of work includes the erection, testing and commissioning of the 132kV conventional substation, as well as civil, transmission lines and remote ends relay retrofits by which the two-year contract is effective from March 8.

$FGV (5222.MY)$: FGV Holdings has been granted a six-month extension until September 2 by Bursa Securities to meet the public shareholding spread requirement. This marks the sixth time that the plantation group has received an extension from the regulator to comply with the requirement. FGV's public shareholding spread as of February 16 remained at 13.09%, which is below the minimum requirement of 25%.

$HTPADU (5028.MY)$: Datuk Farhash Wafa Salvador, who recently emerged as a substantial shareholder in HeiTech Padu Bhd with a 15.91% stake, has clarified that he shares ownership of the shareholding in the company, held via private vehicle Rosetta Partners Sdn Bhd, with Kelantan's Sultan Muhammad V. He emerged as a substantial shareholder in HeiTech Padu after Rosetta Partners bought 6.16 million shares on March 11 and 9.69 million shares on March 12, resulting in a 15.91% stake in the company. Rosetta Partners is wholly-owned by Mfivesouthsea Sdn Bhd, which is in turn jointly-owned by the sultan and Farhash.