KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 4): The main index of Bursa Malaysia reversed its earlier loss and climbed in the mid-morning today, but gains were seen capped against a backdrop of lacklustre regional markets.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI had risen 1.61 points to 1,584.60. The index earlier slipped to a low of 1,581.36.

Gainers led losers by 469 to 282, while 397 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was 1.6 billion shares valued at RM884.42 million.

The top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, See Hup Consolidated Bhd, Kobay Technology Bhd, Genetec Technology Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd and Khind Holdings Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included Luster Industries Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Sanichi Technology Bhd, Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX), AbleGroup Bhd, Iris Corp Bhd and PA Resources Bhd.

The decliners included Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK), British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, Imaspro Corp Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd and Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd.

Reuters said Asian stocks came under pressure today as a mixed Wall Street session gave investors few immediate reasons to increase their risk positions following the recent social media-driven trading chaos.

Markets calmed significantly in the past few days with the Cboe Volatility index down yesterday as wild swings in stock prices of GameStop and other social media favourites subsided and the retail trading frenzy faded, it said.

Inter-Pacific Research Sdn Bhd said although the KLCI tipped higher yesterday, it surrendered most of its intraday gains in the afternoon session as quick profit-taking actions emerged, particularly on glove-maker stocks that were the leading gainers in the past few sessions.

In its daily bulletin today, the research house said conditions elsewhere also improved with lower liners and broader market indices posting decent recoveries on renewed bargain-hunting activities after their recent weakness spell, helping market breadth to stay positive.

Inter-Pacific said despite the still relatively thin market following, the Malaysian equity market is likely to sustain its positive trend over the near term as it continues to recover from its recent bout of consolidation and casting aside lingering Covid-19 concerns as well as their impact on the economy.

“At the same time, the government’s move to allow most economic sectors to restart, even with an extended movement control order (MCO), could provide some minor reprieve to the sagging economic outlook.

“Collectively, this could provide some more lift to market conditions and allow the KLCI to continue building up a base between the 1,580- and 1,600-point levels , prolonging the upside bias for the time being.

“Apart from the above support and resistance levels, the others are at 1,575 and 1,590 points respectively,” it said.

Inter-Pacific said lower liners and broader market shares will continue to make headway as selling pressure had eased, paving the way for the return of bargain-hunting activities as retail players look to trade some of the recently beaten-down stocks.

“However, it remains to be seen how firm the renewed buying support will be as there is still some measure of tentativeness among market players on near-term recovery prospects,” it said.