KUALA LUMPUR: After hitting a near 10-month high on Monday, investors decided to lock in some of the recent gains early Tuesday, sending the FBM KLCI down nearly seven points.
At 9.39am, the KLCI was down 6.58 points or 0.38% to 1,703.66. Turnover was 489.61 million shares valued at RM233mil. There were 177 gainers, 309 losers and 300 counters unchanged.
The dollar was trading near a three-week high against a basket of currencies on Tuesday, as investors awaited congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for clues to the pace of the central bank's interest rate increases, Reuters reported.
Oil rose on Tuesday, supported by an OPEC-led effort to cut output, but rising production elsewhere kept prices within the narrow range that has contained them so far this year, Reuters added.
Brent crude futures were trading at US$55.76 per barrel at 0112 GMT, up 17 cents from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, were up 14 cents at US$53.07 per barrel.
Maybank Investment Bank Research said the KLCI resumed its bullish bias after closing above the 1,700 psychological levels.
On Monday, the KLCI rose 11.30pts to settle at 1,710.24. Broader market reaction was positive with 522 gainers versus 378 losers while another 350 counters remained unchanged.
“Buoyed by positive US markets, we expect the KLCI to test the upper resistance of 1,720 and 1,728 in the near-term, with possible profit taking activities to come in between,” said the research house.
Petronas Dagangan fell 30 sen to RM23.98 with 400 shares done while Petronas Gas lost 16 sen to RM20.44.
Tenaga lost 12 sen to RM13.54, giving up most of the previous day’s gains.
Among the consumer stocks, Dutch Lady
fell 22 sen to RM54.10, Ajinomoto 20 sen to RM14.10 and Nestle 18 sen to RM76.34.
CSC Steel lost 20 sen to RM1.91 after its 4QFY16 net earnings fell 78% on-year and KESM was nine sen lower to RM9.85.
However, Ekovest rose 11 sen to RM2.96 in active trade on plans to pay a 25 sen special dividend to shareholders. Its warrants, Ekkovest-WB added five sen to RM1.59.
Petron Malaysia rose eight sen to RM5.04 while Aeon Credit gained six sen to RM16.06.
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