"We anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,460 to 1,470 towards the weekend,” Rakuten's Thong said.
KUALA LUMPUR: Shares on Bursa Malaysia retreated at the close yesterday on profit-taking after the previous day’s gains as China’s property woes weighed on regional sentiment, with investors also cautious ahead of Malaysia’s third quarter results annoucement today.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI fell 2.16 points to 1,464.68 from Wednesday’s closing of 1,466.84.
The index opened 2.06 points easier at 1,464.78 and hit its lowest of 1,460.46 and highest of 1,465.16.
The market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 487 to 419 while 470 counters were unchanged, 1,004 untraded and 24 others suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 3.48 billion units valued at RM2.07bil from Wednesday’s 3.94 billion units valued at RM2.21bil.
Asian stocks fell yesterday, pausing the heavy gains made this week, as fresh Chinese data showed prolonged weakness in the property sector had dented some of the recent optimism about a recovery in the world’s second-largest economy, according to a Reuters report.
Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng viewed yesterday’s profit-taking as a positive signal as it allowed the market to digest recent gains.
“Our expectation is for the market undertone to remain stable, supported by significant backing from foreign funds. Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,460 to 1,470 towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.
Another analyst said investors were also closely watching Malaysia’s third-quarter gross domestic product to be announced with economists projecting 3.2% to 3.3% growth versus 2.9% in the preceding quarter.
