KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips eked out small gains early Wednesday, led by Hong Leong Bank and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) but the broader market continued to be cautious indicating that profit taking would continue while the ringgit rose against the US dollar.
At 9.53am, the KLCI was up 1.94 points or 0.11% higher at 1,767.28. Turnover was 476.88 million shares valued at RM271.30mil. There were 222 gainers, 342 losers and 281 counters unchanged.
The ringgit rose 0.12% against the US dollar to 4.276 from the previous close of 4.281.
Asian stocks climbed on Wednesday, capping a fifth consecutive month of gains, as data showed China’s factory activity grew at a steady clip this month, bucking expectations of a slowdown, Reuters reported.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2% on Wednesday, with Chinese stocks leading the region higher as investors returned from a long holiday break. Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.1%.
Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research said following the trendline violation two days back, the KLCI has rebounded marginally. However, the MACD Indicator continues to trend lower. The Stochastics momentum oscillator is suggesting negative bias near term move.
“We expect the K LCI’s upside will be capped around 1,780, while support will be set along 1,740-1,760,” it said.
HLIB Research said shares on Bursa Malaysia may see lukewarm buying interest as market may be looking for fresh catalysts beyond the financial reporting season.
“Based on the weaker conditions of the technical indicators, we expect KLCI’s direction will be range -bound and capped around 1,780,” it said.
Ajinomoto was the top gainer for the second day after it announced a special dividend, rising 54 sen to RM21.84. Nestle added 42 sennto RM81.92 and BAT gained 30 sen to RM44.82 while Kawan gained 17 sen to RM4.75.
However, Dutch Lady fell 18 sen to RM57.82 with just 100 shares done while Carlsberg lost 16 sen to RM14.42.
Hong Leong Bank added 32 sen to RM14.28, HLFG 24 sen to RM16.72 and MAHB 11 sen to RM8.55.
Panasonic fell the most, down RM1.28 to RM35.06 and Allianz lost 30 sen to RM12.22.
Source: The Star Online
