KLCI opens lower but rebounds thereafter

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 14): Bursa Malaysia opened lower but rebounded thereafter, taking its cue from the mixed performance of the US stock indices last Friday.

Wall Street ended rather mixed as optimism over an immediate solution for the US stimulus package fades.

At 9.12am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had gained 3.45 points to 1,688.03 from Friday’s close of 1,684.58.

It opened 2.12 points easier at 1,682.46.

The overall market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 394 to 350, while 381 counters were unchanged, 1,019 untraded and 22 others suspended.

Volume stood at 979.90 million units worth RM533.51 million.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said despite sentiment on Wall Street trended mixed last week, trading interest on the local front is expected to remain robust, riding on the recovery theme, as well as the ongoing window dressing period.

“The positive vaccine development such as the emergency roll-out of Covid-19 vaccine in the UK, the US and Canada in the near term may also point towards optimism of economic recovery moving forward.

“With the anticipated recovery in business activities, we expect Brent oil and crude palm oil prices to remain firm between US$45 to 50 and RM3,200-RM3,400 respectively over the near term,” it said in a note today.

On sectors in focus, it said market players are likely to focus on the banking, gaming, shipping, plantation, and oil and gas sectors, besides construction which is likely to be on traders’ radar as news of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail project resurfaced, lifting trading sentiment on the construction and building material segments this week.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) added one sen each to RM8.92 and RM7.90 respectively, Public Bank Bhd bagged 46 sen to RM22.36, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) gained 28 sen to RM10.62, while Top Glove Corp Bhd shed 30 sen to RM6.60.

Among the actives, Mlabs Systems Bhd’s warrant improved two sen to 2.5 sen, Iris Corp Bhd and Sino Hua-An International Bhd edged up half a sen to 39.5 sen and 13.5 sen, respectively, Advance Synergy Bhd added 1.5 sen to 17.5 sen, while Mlabs eased one sen to 8.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 8.83 points better at 12,094.54 and the FBMT 100 Index advanced 11.48 points to 11,743.39.

The FBM 70 decreased 35.22 points to 15,334.79, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 76.98 points to 13,354.55 and the FBM ACE gave up 75.84 points to 10,995.26.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.41 of a point to 177.26, the Plantation Index slipped 59.83 points to 7,352.26, while the Financial Services Index surged 168.93 points to 16,215.06.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets