KUALA LUMPUR (May 21): The FBM KLCI remained in negative territory at mid-morning in line with the lacklustre regional markets but stayed above the crucial 1,800 level.
At 10.02am, the FBM KLCI was down 0.13 points to 1,809.98.
The top losers included United Plantations Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, Lay Hong Bhd, Pintaras Jaya Bhd, Bursa Malaysia Bhd, IFCA MSC Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Affin Holdings Bhd.
The actives included Frontken Corporation Bhd, Kanger International Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd, Nova MSC Bhd, JCY International Bhd, IFCA MSC Bhd, Daya Materials Bhd and Malakoff Corporation Bhd.
The top gainers included Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Can-One Bhd, Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd, Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd, Oriental Food Industries Bhd and Tasco Bhd.
Asian stocks treaded water early on Thursday, with overnight Wall Street losses acting as a drag, while the dollar held to broad gains after minutes from the Federal Reserve's April minutes contained no major surprises, according to Reuters.
The closely-watched Fed meeting minutes showed many officials saw it as premature to hike interest rates in June, which did not take the markets by surprise, it said.
Hong Leong IB Research said it was optimistic that the release of 11th Malaysia Plan would temporarily provide a sentiment booster to our market this week.
“On the flipside, the inability of the FBM KLCI to stay strongly and sustainably above 200-d SMA support will witness the index drifting lower again towards supports of 1800, 1792 (38.2% FR) and 1770 (50% FR) levels, given nagging domestic concerns (eg slower 2Q/3Q GDP due to GST risks, potential earnings disappointment in May reporting season, 1MDB huge debt saga, depressed Ringgit and high possibility of a sovereign rating downgrade by Fitch by May/June),” it said.