KLCI stays little changed amid lack of new leads, anticipation over Russell Index

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI stayed close to parity in the opening minutes of Thursday trade as investors awaited fresh direction.

At 9.05am, the local index was up 0.23 points to 1,589.81. There were 128 gainers versus 51 decliners and 126 counters unchanged. Trading volume was 69.73 million shares valued at RM23.21mil .

The uncertainty on the domestic market came despite a positive performance on Wall Street overnight as investors anticipated the decision over whether local government bonds would be excluded from the World Government Bond Index. The FTSE Russell decision is due today.

The indecisive early Thursday performance of the FBM KLCI was also in line with the tight consolidation channel it has been trading in over recent weeks.

However, Kenanga research maintained its bearish stance on the index as it remains trading below all its key simple moving averages.

“Key support levels to watch out for are 1,570 (S1) and 1,550 (S2). Conversely, overhead resistance levels can be found at 1,630 (R1) and 1,650 (R2),” it said in its technical outlook.

MTAG, which saw sharp losses on its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia yesterday, was the top traded counter in Thursday’s opening minutes. The stock rose 1.5 sen to 45.5 sen, still some ways off its listing price of 53 sen.

Some other counters that picked up momentum include Cahya Mata Sarawak which jumped nine sen to RM2.58, Edgenta which climbed 14 sen to RM3.44 and MBM Resources which rose six sen to RM4.16.

Petronas counters continued to slip on Thursday as Petronas Dagangan dropped 30 sen to RM23.18 and Petronas Gas fell 12 sen to RM16.30. Petronas Chemicals rose two sen to RM7.54.

Other counters seeing notable price movement include Hong Leong Financial Group gaining 20 sen to RM16.32 and MAHB rising nine sen to RM8.78.

Source: TheStar