KLCI easier in early trade on weak sentiment

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 22): Bursa Malaysia opened easier this morning amid a lack of market catalysts, with sentiment continued to be weighed down by profit taking due to recent gains and the emergence of a new virus strain in Europe, dealers said.

At 9.07am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had shed 6.97 points to 1,640.92 after opening 1.09 points lower at 1,646.80 this morning.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 384 to 154, while 319 counters were unchanged, 1,280 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Volume stood at 470.75 million units worth RM224.84 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee Shen Pin said profit-taking activities continue on the KLCI after the recent strong rally and it might enter into a consolidation phase as the year-end break is approaching.

“As such, we continue to recommend investors to adopt ‘buy’ on weakness strategy,” he said in a note today.

Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said as the market was spooked by the new Covid-19 virus strain that caused another lockdown in the UK; the negative sentiment might spill over onto stocks on the local front.

However, the research firm opined that the downside risk might be limited, given the vaccine rollout is on the way.

“Investors could remain focus on the potential emergence of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail news flow, coupled with the Large Scale Solar 4 (LSS4) that is expected by year end.

“Meanwhile, focus could turn to the vaccine distribution candidates this week,” it said.

Malacca Securities expects the KLCI could be due for a technical rebound nearer to the support of 1,640 and followed by 1,620, while resistance is envisaged around 1,680-1,700.

On the heavyweight performance, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) fell 10 sen to RM8.38, Public Bank Bhd shed six sen to RM20.60, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) eased four sen to RM10.64, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) lost eight sen to RM7.46, and IHH Healthcare Bhd slipped one sen to RM5.74.

However, Top Glove Corp Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd rose seven sen and eight sen to RM6.69 and RM12.58 respectively.

Among the actives, Iris Corp Bhd added two sen to 41 sen, Fintec Global Bhd and Vivocom Intl Holdings Bhd inched up half a sen each to 10 sen and RM1.03 respectively, while Key Alliance Group Bhd and Techna-X Bhd were flat at 5.5 sen and 16.5 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 64.49 points lower at 11,784.33, the FBMT 100 Index fell 63.31 points to 11,550.86, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 37.24 points to 13,249.3 and the FBM 70 erased 137.99 points to 15,020.33.

However, the FBM ACE rose 43.88 points to 10,522.33.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 1.4 points to 173.56, the Plantation Index gave up 9.17 points for 7,349.02, and the Financial Services Index decreased 126.78 points to 15,256.8.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets