KL shares slightly higher in early session
KUALA LUMPUR: Shares on Bursa Malaysia were slightly higher in the early session today on bargain-hunting activities, following persistent selling yesterday.
At 9.21am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.22 points better at 1,8516 from Tuesday's 1,850.35 after opening 4.01 points easier at 1,846.77.
Market breadth was positive with 202 gainers against 119 losers, while 219 counters were unchanged, 1,331 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Volume stood at 205.36 million units valued at RM72.24 million.
A dealer said some traders decided to take profits off the table and accumulate quality stocks at a cheaper price following yesterday's sell-off, which was caused by fears of a full-blown trade war, after China raised tariffs by up to 25% on selective US food products.
He said this move was seen as a counter-measure taken by China following the tariffs imposed by the United States on imports of aluminum and steel.
In a note, Kenanga Research said technical indicators remained unexciting as there are still no signs of a bullish breakout from its current sideways movement.
"Given the uncertainties in both local and global markets, we foresee the index to continue moving sideways between 1,880 and 1,840," it added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank added two sen each to RM10.54 and RM23.98, respectively, while Tenaga rose 18 sen to RM15.82.
For actives, PUC and EA Holdings gained five sen each to 27.5 sen and four sen respectively, while Sapura Energy was flat at 54.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index increased 15.58 points to 12,947.76, the FBMT 100 Index was 14.84 points better at 12,759.88 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index rose 22.94 points to 13,101.45.
The FBM 70 jumped 71.18 points to 15,489.76 and the FBM Ace added 30.13 points to 5,287.01.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index eased 12.09 points to 18,140.98, the Industrial Index was 2.83 points higher at 3,223.03 and the Plantation Index was higher by 11.01 points to 8,008.32.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM160.09 per gramme, down 54 sen from RM160.63 at 5.00pm yesterday. — Bernama