Market takes a breather

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia took a breather early Tuesday as investors looked towards institutional players to provide the direction but key Asian markets advanced.

At 9.15am, the KLCI was down 2.02 points or 0.13% to 1,601.54. Turnover was 291.21 million shares valued at RM103.52mil. There were 156 gainers, 139 losers and 250 counters unchanged.

Asian shares closed in on their July peak on increasing signs the United States and China are inching closer to a truce in their trade war and on optimism the U.S. economy is well poised for solid, consumer-driven growth, Reuters reported.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early trade after hitting a four-month high the previous day. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.34% to one-year high after a market holiday on Monday.

At Bursa, Nestle fell 20 sen to RM146.90 and BAT was down eight sen to RM18.08 but Carlsberg added 16 sen to RM27.66.

Petronas Chemical slipped 12 sen to RM7.50 with just 100 shares done while YINSON shed six sen to RM6.71 and MISC lost five sen to RM8.23. Uzma recovered to climb 4.5 sen to 97 sen in active trade. Petronas Gas gained four sen to RM16.62.

Dufu fell nine sen to RM2.84 and Press Metal eight sen in active trade. Mesiniaga added eight sen to RM1.33.

Among the banks, Hong Leong Bank gave up part of the recent gains to slip six sen to RM17.10.

KL Kepong was the top gainer, up 18 sen to RM22.16 with 100 shares done.

FACB Ind rose six sen to RM1.30 while APM, Westports and MAHB added four sen each to RM2.07, RM4.39 and RM8.18 respectively.

Source: TheStar