Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (March 6): The FBM KLCI remained below the 1,700-point level at mid-morning today despite ticking marginally upward against the backdrop of cautious regional markets.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI was up 0.9 points to 1,686.52.

Gainers led losers by 309 to 188, while 268 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 666.16 million shares valued at RM404.25 million.

The gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Teck Guan Perdana Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, Merge Energy Bhd and My EG Services Bhd (MyEG).

The actives included MyEG, Frontken Corp Bhd, Zelan Bhd, Berjaya Corp Bhd, Brahim's Holdings Bhd, Malayan Flour Mills Bhd, Sino Hua-An International Bhd, Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd and Seacera Group Bhd.

The decliners included Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Unisem (M) Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Kumpulan Powernet Bhd, IHH Healthcare Bhd, Yinson Holdings Bhd and Lii Hen Industries Bhd.

Asian stocks clung to tight ranges on Wednesday, as investors awaited fresh directional cues from US-China trade negotiations and a weaker Wall Street finish capped broader gains, while robust US economic data supported the dollar, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was barely changed. Australian stocks added 0.2% while Japan's Nikkei declined 0.5%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said that in the US, investors are looking forward to the trade details and a trade agreement between US President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping by end of March.

"Should there be any negative surprises on the tariffs rollback, Wall Street may retrace further on the already-overbought Dow and S&P500 indices.

"On the local front, we expect the FBM KLCI to further consolidate over the near term without any fresh catalysts, coupled with the uninspiring 4Q financial results.

"In the meantime, we would advocate a defensive approach on companies with low gearing or net cash position in order to sail through a potential slowdown of economic activities in the upcoming quarters," it said.

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