KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia were easier at the opening today amid tepid trading.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) index stood at 1,640.75, down by 1.19 points from 1.641.94 yesterday.
The index opened 0.11 of a point lower at 1,641.83.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 169 to 121, while 203 counters remained unchanged, 1,376 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 194 million shares worth RM87.1 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said under the prevailing environment, it will require significantly more positivity in the local stock market to allow the key index to head higher.
“More importantly, there needs to be a substantive improvement in corporate earnings to provide room for the key index to head higher.
“However, with the global and domestic economic prospects stuttering, corporate earnings growth are likely to stay muted for now and corresponding we see the FBM KLCI’s sideway trend persisting,” it said in a research note today.
Malacca Securities said stocks in the FBM Small Cap, Fledgling and ACE Market indices are looking toppish after the recently extended uptrend and this could result in further upsides capped.
“A consolidation is in the offing for the recent gains to be absorbed, albeit there are still few signs of a pullback as yet,” it added.
Hence, it sees the 1,640 level remains the key support for now, followed by the recent low at 1,628 points, while resistances are at 1,650 and 1,657, respectively.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank, IHH Healthcare and Hong Leong were flat at RM9.30 and RM5.56 and RM20.10, respectively.
Meanwhile, Axiata and Maxis remained in the red since yesterday, losing 10 sen and two sen each to RM4.09 and RM5.58, respectively.
PetChem also down by two sen to RM9.08 on profit taking activities after two days on gains.
Of the actives, FGV inched up eight sen to RM1.34 as investors are positive over Felda’s white paper which would be tabled in Parliament today.
It was reported that Felda would be asking RM6 billion funding from the government for its turnaround plan.
Yesterday, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the government had to support Felda following its huge losses caused by the previous government.
Meanwhile, Talam was flat at 4.5 sen and Bumi Armada added half a sen to 20.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index dropped 9.27 points 11,630.78, the FBMT 100 Index depreciated 9.32 points to 11,461.21 and the FBM Ace Index inched down 27.20 points to 4,754.03.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index down 11.44 points to 11,849.56 and the FBM 70 decreased 16.09 points to 14,579.43.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index up 15.32 points to 16,862.59, the Industrial Products and Services Index went down 0.07 of a point to 170.26 and the Plantation Index was 18.31 points higher at 7,304.65. — Bernama
