Virus vaccine could be bad for red hot glove stocks

Danny Wong, chief executive officer at Malaysia-based Areca Capital Sdn., said in an interview that investors will be better off taking some profits in glove stocks over the next few quarters as news on vaccine development has been positive. "Stocks have already rallied a lot, ” Wong said.

KUALA LUMPUR: The recent progress in developing a vaccine for the coronavirus is posing a threat to the meteoric rise of Malaysian glove-maker stocks, one of the hottest sectors in Asia amid the pandemic.

Shares in the sector’s biggest companies such as Top Glove Corp., Hartalega Holdings Bhd. and Supermax Corp. each dropped more than 6% on Tuesday on signs that the Trump administration may fast-track vaccines and treatments for coronavirus.

The U.S. is expanding access to a treatment involving blood plasma from recovered patients and the Financial Times separately reported Trump’s government is considering whether to bypass regulatory standards to accelerate an experimental vaccine.