Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 15): The FBM KLCI pared some of its gains at mid-morning today ahead of the close of trading at 12.30pm.

Sentiment turned somewhat muted from the spirited trading earlier in the morning.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI rose 4.16 points or 0.23% to 1,839.09. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,842.73.

Gainers led losers at 347 to 173, while 276 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 472.95 million shares valued at RM281.21 million.

The gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd and Pos Malaysia Bhd.

The actives included Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, PUC Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, PDZ Holdings Bhd, Borneo Oil Bhd, Diversified Gateway Solutions Bhd and Sino Hua-An International Bhd.

The decliners included Genting Plantations Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd and UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd.

Asian stocks gained on Thursday after Wall Street brushed aside strong US inflation data and surged, a counterintuitive move that also saw the US dollar pinned at two-week lows even as Treasury yields jumped in anticipation of a quicker pace of US interest rate hikes, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research in a traders' brief said that technically, the rebound from recent Dow's correction remains intact and it may revisit 25,000-25,500 over the near term with key supports at 23,500-24,000 zones.

"Nevertheless, choppiness will prevail and restrict any rebound beyond 25,500 as investors continue to digest the wild swings amid concerns over inflationary pressures and spiking bond yields (which hit a four-year high at 2.9%) ahead of the March 20-21 FOMC meeting. The new Fed chief Jerome Powell will be faced with some tough decisions in balancing between its dual mandate of price stability and full employment.

"On the back of overnight Dow's 1% rally and improving technicals, the FBM KLCI is likely to test higher today with immediate resistance near 1,837 (50% FR)-1,847 (61.8% FR) levels.

"Nevertheless, trading would stay muted amid an extended CNY holidays (Bursa Malaysia will close Feb 15 (2nd half) and Feb 16) and ongoing February reporting season. Moreover, uncertainty over the GE14 could dampen sentiment as there is speculation that Parliament could be dissolved during the first session of the sixth Parliamentary meeting, which begins on March 5 till April 5," it said.

 

      Print
      Text Size
      Share