KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI bounced back as it entered the lunch break, with some strong gains in energy and banking heavyweights.
At 12.30pm, the 30-stock index was up 1.27 points, or 0.08% to 1,599.47. The index earlier slipped to its intra-morning low of 1,595.62.
The broader market was positive with 569 gainers compared to 422 decliners while overall trading volume picked up to 3.2 billion shares valued at RM1.9bil.
On the blue-chip index, YTL Power rose 10 sen to RM5 while Tenaga Nasional gained eight sen to RM14.08.
Maybank, Public Bank and RHB Bank added one sen each to RM9.98, RM4.04 and RM5.51 respectively. CIMB added three sen to RM6.86.
On the broader market, Malaysian Pacific Industries
jumped 92 sen to RM39.74, Heineken rose 32 sen to RM22.52 and United Plantations added 22 sen to RM24.98.
ACE Market debutant, UUE jumped 172.92%, or 41.5 sen to 65.5 sen with 163.98 million shares traded.
Among the decliners, Nestle slid 70 sen to RM121.70, Dutch Lady fell 56 sen to RM35.84 and PETRONAS Dagangan lost 22 sen to RM17.20.
TA Securities said sideways trading should persist in the near term, pending fresh local catalysts to lift the market from the present consolidation.
“Immediate index resistance will be the early June high of 1,622, with the May high of 1,632 and 1,640 as tougher upside hurdles, while stronger supports are at 1,566, the 100-day moving average level, followed by 1,550,” it said.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade anticipates the index to trend between the 1,600-1,610 range today as valuation remains reasonable amongst the blue chips.
It said crude oil prices were mostly higher with the Brent crude closing in to US$87 a barrel on heightening geopolitical tension and improving demand.
