FBM KLCI slips marginally in early trade as Wall Street hits consecutive records

The Star

2 days ago

KUALA LUMPUR: Despite a second consecutive day of record gains on Wall Street, the positive momentum failed to lift the local market, with the FBM KLCI slipping marginally in early trade.
Overnight, the S&P 500 gained 0.83% to 6,279.36, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.02% to 20,601.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.77% to 44,828.53.
The benchmark FBM KLCI opened 1.75 points higher at 1,550.74 but later declined by 0.4 of a point, or 0.03%, to 1,548.59 as of 9.19 am.
Berjaya Research Sdn Bhd said the underlying tone remains firm despite yesterday's retreat and the FBM KLCI's failure to clear the psychological 1,550 level, supported by continued foreign institutional buying and a general increase in market interest.
The research house noted that increased participation is helping to bolster market sentiment, and there remains value in key index components, attracting bargain hunters as they continue to trade below their historical forward averages.
'With the sanguine undertone, coupled with key overseas equity indices making further headway, the positivity remains on the key index that could allow it to retest the 1,550 level again.
'Above, the targets remain at the 1,552-1,556 levels, followed by the 1,561 level. The supports, meanwhile, are at the 1,542-1,545 levels and at 1,540 points respectively,' Berjaya Research said.
'We also think the broader market shares could end the week on a high, helped by the improved sentiments that are encouraging increased buying of some of the lower liner sector leaders.'
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade said that the FBM KLCI fell slightly below the 1,550 level yesterday, likely due to some profit-taking activities.
'Nonetheless, we noticed strong support around this level, backed by a spike in trading volume exceeding five billion shares. Thus, we expect the index to hover within the 1,545 to 1,555 range today,' it said.
Among the decliners on Bursa Malaysia, Malaysian Pacific Industries slid 36 sen to RM22.24, Westports lost 23 sen to RM5.57, PETRONAS Dagangan eased 16 sen to RM21.80, and Timberwell fell 14.5 sen to 24.5 sen.
On the gainers' side, F&N rose 18 sen to RM19.18, United Plantations gained 12 sen to RM22.00, Hong Leong Financial Group added 10 sen to RM16.56, and BAT climbed eight sen to RM4.89.