KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 5): Oil and gas (O&G) related counters rebounded this morning on bargain hunting, after suffering sharp losses yesterday (Jan 4), with Petronas Nasional Bhd (Petronas) related stocks emerging as the top two gainers in late morning trades.

O&G stocks recouped some of their losses from yesterday, with Petronas Dagangan Bhd becoming the top gainer at 11.20 am, rising 3.47% or 82 sen to RM24.46, after paring gains from the highest point of RM24.70.

Petronas Gas Bhd was the second top gainer. It surged 2.5% or 54 sen to RM22.18, after reducing some gains from RM22.30 earlier.  

Petronas Chemical Group Bhd, which was the fourth top gainer, rose 4.96% or 35 sen to RM7.41 at 11.27 am.

However, analysts remain cautious on O&G sector due to the oil prices volatility. At 11.20am, Brent Crude oil prices increased by 0.67% to US$37.47 per barrel.

Kenanga research’s head Chan Ken Yew is “neutral” on oil and gas sector, and Bumi Armada Bhd was the only O&G related counter under his top picks. He recommended “outperform” with target price of RM1.17 on the offshore O&G services provider.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)