KLCI opens higher but retreats thereafter

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 18): Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher today, but retreated within minutes of trading, driven by emerging profit taking across the heavyweights due to recent gains, dealers said.

At 9.15am, the FBM KLCI had declined 10.69 points to 1,599.46 after opening 0.93 of a point higher at 1,611.08.

Losers led gainers 341 to 243, while 381 counters were unchanged, 1,179 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 1.56 billion worth RM498.19 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd expects some retracement in regional markets today, tracking the overnight Wall Street retreat as traders decided to lock in some profits following a solid run post the US presidential election and positive vaccine news.

“On the local front, we reckon rubber glove counters to experience continued selling pressure. Hence, the benchmark index may face some headwinds today.

“We believe the KLCI, which had jumped by more than 10% since early this month, may see it tough to be maintained at the current level with 1,600 [points] as the immediate support [level],” it said in a research note today.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank slipped 14 sen to RM8.1622, Public Bank fell eight sen to RM18.82, TNB decreased 12 sen to RM11.30, Petronas Chemicals declined two sen to RM6.63, and Top Glove went down 15 sen to RM6.85.

Of the actives, Pegasus earned half a sen to 3.5 sen, Kanger International rose 1.5 sen to 18.5 sen, Eduspec was flat at three sen, while AT Systematization slipped 2.5 sen to 22 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 70.17 points easier at 11,485.17, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 57.57 points to 13,156.39, the FBMT 100 Index shed 72.93 points to 11,273.89, the FBM 70 declined 85.57 points to 14,718.24, and the FBM ACE contracted 58.86 points to 11,260.39.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.26 of a point to 157.48, the Plantation Index perked 5.73 points to 7,317.33, and the Financial Services Index lost 166.90 points to 14,288.79.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets