Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 21): The FBM KLCI drifted lower at the midday break on Friday in tandem with most regional markets, as the spread of the Covid-19 virus continued to grip global markets, with nary a fresh catalyst in sight.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 2.81 points to 1,532.17.

Losers led gainers by 303 to 234, while 543 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.50 billion shares valued at RM921.65 million.

The top losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Pharmaniaga Holdings Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, Time Dotcom Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd and Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd.

The actives included Eduspec Holdings Bhd, XOX Bhd, i-Stone Group Bhd, Perdana Petroleum Teknologi Bhd, Ekovest Bhd and Powerwell Holdings Bhd.

The gainers included Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Mi Technovation Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd and Ayer Holdings Bhd.

Reuters said most Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Friday, as the rapid spread of the coronavirus outside mainland China and its impact on Asia's economies dulled the appeal of risk assets.

Japan and Singapore are on the brink of recession and South Korea on Friday said its exports to China slumped in the first 20 days of February as the outbreak upends global supply chains, it said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI gained 0.82 points or 0.1%, to close at 1,534.98 on Thursday.

The research house said the index closed flat in yesterday’s session and has been hovering sideways for the past three trading days. Nonetheless, it said the downward bias remains with the index still steadily drifting lower.

“Support looks to be around 1,520 while immediate resistance calculated to be about the 1,550-1,560 level.

“Anticipate the index to trade with downward bias,” it said.

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