KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 21): Construction and tourism-related stocks received a shot in the arm from the revised 2015 Budget, as evident from investors' reaction to the stocks.

Pursuant to the government’s decision to maintain RM48.5 billion development expenditure in the revised Budget 2015, construction stocks reacted positively in general this morning.

Out of 43 construction stocks on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia, 18 went up; six were down, with 19 counters remaining unchanged.

Persona Metro Holdings Bhd’s share price appreciated the most, trading eight sen or 10.74% higher at 82.5 sen, with 1.34 million shares transacted as of market break, giving it a market capitalisation of RM507.65 million.

It was followed by Brem Holdings Bhd, which increased five sen or 4.85% to RM1.08; and Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd, which rose 1.5 sen or 3.61% to 43 sen.

Main decliner in the sector was WCT Holdings Bhd, which fell three sen or 1.95% to RM1.51; followed by DKLS Industries Bhd and Gamuda Bhd, which retreated three sen (1.65%) and five sen (0.99%), to settle at RM1.79 and RM5.00 respectively in the morning trading session.

Notably, Gamuda (fundamental: 2.2; valuation: 1.5) was the most traded counter in construction, with 5.51 million shares traded this morning.

A TA Securities Research analyst said he found no surprises in the speech yesterday,and was of neutral view to the revised budget.