KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia extended Friday’s downbeat note this morning, as the market anticipated some bouts of bargain hunting activities over the near term, in tandem with Wall Street’s strong gains at the end of last week.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.32 points to 1,668.13 from Friday’s close of 1,669.45, after opening 1.14 points higher at 1,670.59 earlier today.
However, on the broader market, gainers led losers, 149 to 68, while 185 counters unchanged, 1,447 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 134.7 million units worth RM36.80 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd’s (MSSB) in a note said global markets are still buoyed by expectations of a US interest rate cut as a pre-emptive move against the slowing American economy, which could also allow stocks on Bursa Malaysia to stage a near term turnaround.
“However, we think that the rebound may still be tentative for now amid the lingering overbought conditions. The near term recovery could send the key index to the 1,676 level, before making a pass at the 1,680 level,” it said in a note.
The support levels are at the 1,660 and 1,657 levels respectively.
MSSB also noted that the lower liners and broader market shares are still holding firm, sustaining the FBM KLCI’s overbought streak.
“While we still see consolidation among the lower liners amid their overbought conditions, the extended overbought streak looks to continue for now with rotational interest set to continue providing the impetus,” it added.
Among heavyweights, TNB lost 18 sen to RM13.50, Petronas Chemical and Top Glove reduced four sen each to RM8.38 and RM4.69, respectively, Axiata was one sen easier at RM5.17 and AmBank erased three sen to RM4.28.
Of the actives, Sumated added one sen to 3.5 sen, Eden added two sen to 19 sen, Karex gained four sen to 61.5 sen but Netx lost half-a-sen to 1.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index rose 14.85 points to 11,859.10 and the FBMT 100 Index up 0.03 of-a-point to 11,669.54.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 7.54 points better at 12,249.46, the FBM 70 advanced 37.51 points to 14,915.08 and the FBM Ace increased 5.43 points to 4,655.56.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index perked 26.38 points to 16,668.57, the Plantation Index added 1.88 points to 6,913.16, but the Industrial Products & Services Index shed 0.16 of-a-point to 161.16. — Bernama
