Petronas Gas and Public Bank among top gainers early Wednesday

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Gas and Public Banks were among the top gainers early  Wednesday, underpinning the FBM KLCI’s rally on window dressing ahead of the winding up of the first quarter.

At 9.44am, the FBM KLCI was up 7.91 points or 0.46% to 1,722.95. Turnover was 307.03 million shares valued at RM268.02mil. There were 249 gainers, 153 losers and 252 counters unchanged.

Asian shares gained on Wednesday as markets scaled back expectations for how fast and far US interest rates might rise this year, bruising the dollar and boosting sovereign bonds, Reuters reported.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.7%, while the Australian market bounced 0.6%.

Oil futures rebounded, buoyed by a forecast for a less than expected build in crude oil stockpiles last week.

Brent futures climbed 40 cents to US$39.54 a barrel as of 0104 GMT after settling down US$1.13 in the previous session. US crude rose 45 cents to US$38.73 a barrel after ending the previous session down $1.11.

Meanwhile,  Maybank Investment Bank Research recommended a “Take Profit” strategy for Wednesday. It pointed out that the April 2016 futures was at a large 5.54-point discount against the FBM KLCI. 

“We believe supports of 1,698 to 1,715 may be levels to nibble, while very heavy profit-taking activities will cap rebounds at the resistances of 1,726 and 1,744,” it said. 

The research house the KLCI fell from the 1,727.41 high, but found a key floor at 1,600.92 on 21 Jan 2016. 

Trend-wise, the index direction had turned up and stalled at 1,726.55 on March 23, 2016. The 62% Fibonacci retracement (FR) level of 1,727 is proving to be a very tough level to crack. 

“Investors may continue to sell stocks as the index approaches the key 1,726 to 1,728 FR zone on the 1Q window dressing activities,” it said.

Consumer stocks Dutch Lady and F&N advanced, with Dutch Lady adding 52 sen to RM51.52 and F&N gaining 40 sen to RM20.90. Apollo fell 20 sen toRM6.10.

Petronas Gas added 22 sen to RM22.08 while among the banks, Public Bank and Hong Leong added 14 sen each to RM18.86 and RM13.54. MAHB added 11 sen to RM6.81.

Kim Loong fell 16 sen to RM3.38, Kossan nine sen to  RM6 and KESM eight sen to RM4.06.