Bursa starts March on weak note, KLCI falls below 1,700

KUALA LUMPUR: Weaker corporate results, worries about the progress of the US-China trade talks saw the key FBM KLCI falling below the crucial 1,700 level early Friday, starting the month of March on a cautious note.

At 9.18am, the KLCI was down 10.08 points or 0.59% to 1,697.65. Turnover was 236.58 million shares valued at RM134.88mil. There were 134 gainers, 309 losers and 200 counters unchanged.

Asian shares inched higher on Friday with broader gains capped by investor caution as concerns about China’s economy and global trade weighed on sentiment while stronger-than-expected U.S. GDP data pushed the dollar up, Reuters reported.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up less than 0.1 percent in early trade. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.8%, helped by the weaker yen, while Australian shares added 0.6%. However, SIngapore’s STI was in the red.

At Bursa, Tenaga fell 42 sen to RM13 with 2.23 million shares done after its swung into the red with net losses of RM134mil in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Petronas Dagangan lost 34 sen to RM26.36, Mesiniaga 21 sen to RM1.57, MNRB 15 sen to RM1.09, CIMB and PBA 12 sen each to RM5.73 and RM1.13 while Brahims plunged 11.5 sen to nine sen.

Apex Healthcare was the top gainer, up 55 sen to RM9.50, TimeCom 45 sen to RM8.20, Alliance Bank 15 sen to RM4.11, MAA 12 sen to RM1.02 and Yinson 10 sen to RM4.45.

Kenanga Research said it believes the overall technical outlook of the index is still positive given that the index has decisively broken above its 100-day SMA even though the index may see some short-term retracement or consolidation.

“Continued buying momentum could see the index trending higher to its resistances at 1,780 (R1) and 1,800 (R2). Should there be negative developments from the trade talks, support levels can be identified at 1,700 (S1) and 1,630 (S2),” it said.

Source : TheStar