KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 28): The main index at Bursa Malaysia ticked higher in early trade Monday after the extended weekend in line with gains at regional markets.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was up 2.04 points to 1,643.21.

The early gainers incuded Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, KPower Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Hai-O Enterprise Bhd and JF Technology Bhd.

Bloomberg said U.S. equity futures pushed higher with Asian stocks in early trading Monday as investors awaited confirmation on whether President Donald Trump has approved a coronavirus stimulus package.

The dollar ticked lower with Treasuries, it said.

Inter-Pacific Research Sdn Bhd said Malaysian equities lost ground, prior to the Christmas break as profit taking took precedent again - a day after posting a decent recovery.

In its daily bulletin today, the research house said for the most part, the market environment was quiet ahead of the holidays with fresh buying interest noticeably absent and this was reflected in the thin traded volumes.

At the same time, trading was mixed with losers and gainers almost equal, it said.

Inter-Pacific said wth the year-end holidays in full swing, it sees overall market participation remaining thin, but also sees the key index remaining stable on continuing bouts of support.

It said the combination of fewer market leads and thinner market interest will keep the FBM KLCI on an even keel and allow it to preserve most of the gains it attained in last month’s rally.

“While we see the key index largely on a holding path, there could still be bouts of selective buying that could see some mild upside bias, mainly on portfolio repositioning for the start of next year.

“This may help the key index to climb back up to the 1,650 level and depending on the level of buying, the key index could also re-test the 1,660 level over the coming days. Support wise, they are located at 1,631 and 1,620 respectively,” it said.