KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI started the day in a volatile trading amid a lack of positive catalysts to drive a market.
The index added 0.15 of a point to 1,442.12 at 9.17am after opening 0.65 of a point lower at 1,441.32.
Gainers and losers almost equal 237 to 241, while 337 counters were unchanged. Total volume stood at 659 million worth RM341.7mil.
Among the losers, Nestle fell 40 sen to RM117.10, Lysaght slid 18 sen to RM2.13, Sam Engineering lost 17 sen to RM4.05 and PETRONAS Dagangan declined 16 sen to RM21.46.
United Plantations rose 22 sen to RM16.72, Dutch Lady
gained 10 sen to RM22.90, Keck Seng added nine sen to RM4.55 and Iskandar Waterfront City climbed 8.5 sen to 60.5 sen.
Meanwhile, US stock indexes closed higher on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 130.49 points or 0.4% to 36,247.87, the Nasdaq advanced 63.98 points or 0.5% to 14,403.97 and the S&P 500 climbed 18.78 points or 0.4% to 4,604.37.
Apex Securities anticipates the FBM KLCI to stage a rebound for today, taking cue from the positive sentiment spillover from the US market after stronger-than-expected job data.
“Investors will be looking ahead to this week’s Fed interest decision. We expect to see some trading opportunities in the construction sector after Sultan Ibrahim expresses hope for HSR to be revived.
“Meanwhile, we expect bargain hunting activities to emerge within the plantation and energy sector following the relief in both crude oil and palm oil prices,” it said.
Malacca Securities expects buying interest to emerge on the local front, especially after Jensen Huang visited Malaysia.
“With the positive sentiment from the Huang visit to Malaysia, this will rekindle the buying interest within the YTL-related counters, boosting also
the other sectors such as renewable energy, water, property, construction and building materials.
“Meanwhile, we believe there might be some spike in buying support within the O&G stocks amid a rebound in Brent oil prices,” it said.
