KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata nudged the FBM KLCI slightly higher in early Friday trade amid a slightly firmer broader market which has been under some foreign selling pressure over the past two trading days this week.
At 9.18am, the KLCI was up 3.21 points or 0.19% to 1,676.69. Turnover was 187.77 million shares valued at RM63.48mil. There were 196 gainers, 78 losers and 233 counters unchanged.
Asian stocks got off to a tentative start on Friday, as investors await the outcome of a key U.S. monthly jobs report that will set the tone for the Federal Reserve's policy outlook and as China's markets reopen after a week-long break, Reuters said.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat after touching its highest level since mid-October in the previous session.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported oil prices edged up on Friday on news that US President Donald Trump could be poised to impose new sanctions on multiple Iranian entities, firing geopolitical tensions between the two nations.
NYMEX crude for March delivery was up 37 cents at US$53.91 a barrel, after settling down 34 cents on Thursday. For the week, the contract is up a little over 1 percent. London Brent crude had yet to trade after settling down 24 cents at US$56.56.
On the outlook for the KLCI, Kenanga Investment Bank Research said from a charting perspective, the index’s short- medium term trend remains modestly positive with the key index sporting rising peaks and troughs over the past two months.
“While the MACD is still below its Signal-line (a negative), we expect any weakness from here to be temporary. Upside bias is towards 1,690 (R1) and 1,700 (R2) while downside support levels are 1,660 (S1) and 1,650 (S2),” it said.
Axiata rose six sen to RM4.86 with 22,700 shares done.
Among plantation stocks, Chin Teck Plantations
added 12 sen to RM8 but with only 200 shares done while PPB Group added 10 sen to RM16.20 with only 100 shares traded. However, MHC Plantations fell 3.5 sen to 92 sen
Chip maker MPI rose 11 sen to RM8.44 and Aeon Credit gained 10 sen to RM15.50.
As for property counters, Selangor Properties and MKH-WB added eight sen each to RM4.52 and RM1.28.
Petronas Gas and small-cap stock Enra fell 12 sen each to RM20.52 and RM2.48 while Petron Malaysia was down four sen to RM4.41.
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