.JPG "An investor monitors the stock prices in the gallery of the RHB Investment Bank Bhd headquarters in Kuala Lumpur March 17, 2020. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher today, lifted by mild buying activities in selected heavyweights led by Maybank, Genting, PetChem and TNB.
Despite the slight increase, analysts are still projecting another volatile session for regional markets today, including Bursa Malaysia, which the support level is expected at 1,320.
At 9.12am, key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 2.24 points, or 0.16 per cent to 1,332.89 from 1,330.65 at Friday’s close.
The key index opened 1.96 points firmer at 1,332.61.
On the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 196 to 53, while 172 counters were unchanged, 1,500 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 192.26 million worth RM49.03 million.
In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said, set to be released economic indicators may continue to dampen global equities sentiment amid the little-to-no positive progress on the Covid-19 situation.
“We think that the FBM KLCI may drift lower, but will still range between the consolidation zone, at the 1,300 and 1,350 levels. On the downside, should the 1,300 psychological level fail to hold, the support is located at the 1,250 level,” it said.
The research house said after a streak of recovery over the past two weeks, it reckons a pullback is imminent on lower liners with the broader market allowing investors to digest their gains.
A pullback will be healthy for the time being, allowing fresh legs to kick start another wave of recovery.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade said the situation in the US had worsened as the pandemic figures have skyrocketed and this may force President Donald Trump for a more stringent lockdown whereby the impact could be direr for Wall Street.
“The DJI Average lost 360 points to just above the 21,000 marks last Friday and we expect there to be more selling pressure going forward”.
At the local front, Bank Negara Malaysia on Friday has released three reports, namely the Annual Report 2019, Economic and Monetary Review 2019 and the Financial Stability Review for Second Half 2019.
The central bank via its reports projected Malaysia’s gross domestic product to be between -2.0 and 0.5 per cent this year (2019:4.3 per cent), while headline inflation is forecast to average within the range of -1.5 to 0.5 pc in 2020 (2019:0.7 pc), mainly reflecting the significantly lower global oil and commodity prices.
“Monetary policy in 2020 to focus on providing support to domestic economic growth in an environment of subdued price pressures and the economy is expected to normalise in 2021, in line with the projected recovery in the global economy,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga rose four sen each to RM7.44 and, RM11.96 respectively, while Public Bank added two sen to RM15.72 and IHH slipped one sen to RM5.10.
The most active counters continue to be dominated by technology, energy and telecommunications-linked stocks.
Lambo and Nexgram were flat each at one sen and one sen respectively, Hibiscus Petroleum rose two sen to 47 sen and Velesto was one was better at 17 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 29.47 points to 9,204.85, the FBM Emas Shariah Index accumulated 28.60 points to 10,090.05 while the FBMT 100 Index went up 22.18 points to 9,110.84.
The FBM 70 gained 54.64 points to 10,764.70 and the FBM Ace advanced 39.78 points to 3,857.09.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.39 of-a-point to 105.63, the Financial Services Index firmed 28.76 points to 12,080.75 and the Plantation Index added 30.65 points to 6,170.29. — Bernama
