KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 15): The FBM KLCI defended its marginal gains at mid-morning today as bargain hunting on select blue chips lifted the local index.
At 10am, the FBM KLCI was up 2.32 points at 1,632.28.
The top gainers included Top Glove Corporation Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Inari Amertron Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd and Petronas Dagangan Bhd.
The actives included Instacom Group Bhd, Red Sena Bhd, The Media Shoppe Bhd, Eden Inc Bhd, AirAsia Bhd and XOX Bhd.
The losers included Batu Kawan Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd, Subur Tiasa Holdings Bhd and Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd.
Asian shares steadied in cautious early trade on Tuesday, as investors were reluctant to make any big moves amid volatile crude oil and before a widely anticipated US interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve later this week, according to Reuters.
Markets were also focused on whether the People's Bank of China would continue to guide its currency lower, with traders wary about the central bank's intentions after it set the yuan/dollar official midpoint at 4½-year lows in recent session, it said.
Hong Leong IB Research said that the local market outlook today remains weak amid lower crude oil prices, ringgit as well as the FOMC meeting on Dec 15–16.
The research house said that technically, the "Three Black Crows" candlestick pattern amid widening Bollinger band depicted negative sentiment on Dec 15–16.
"Nevertheless, we are of the view that the selling pressure is abated as oscillators are getting into oversold zone.
"Supports are 1,615, 1,600 and 1,588 areas while key resistances are 1,640, 1,653 and 1,660," it said.
(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.)