KLCI loses ground at midday

KUALA LUMPUR: Local bourse benchmark FBM KLCI ended the morning session in a negative territory as investors stay cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve (Fed)’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

At 12.30 pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI was down 1.96 points to 1,726.70. The index opened 2.88 points lower at 1,725.78 in the morning.

The broader market was weaker with decliners outpacing advancers. There were 376 gainers versus 421 losers while 345 stocks remained unchanged. Turnover stood at 1.697 billion  shares valued at RM994.07mil.

The ringgit was quoted at 4.4497 against the US dollar on expectation of an imminent US interest rate hike.

Overnight, US equities closed lower as investors await for the possibility of rate hike in this month. Similarly, European markets trended lower following the disappointing German industrial orders and expectations of US rate hike.  

Fed Chair Janet Yellen has signalled that the central bank might raise interest rates at its next meeting on March 14-15, and may move faster after that than it has in years.

JF Apex Research said the local benchmark index could see some profit taking and continue to hover below the resistance level of 1,730 points following the lackluster performance in the overseas markets.

Hong Leong Investment Bank Research said investors were likely to stay cautious over the week and key indices may trend sideways for the time being ahead of the FOMC next week.

The Dow currently is holding above the support of 20,900.

“Meanwhile, on the local bourse, sentiments might turn slightly weaker tracking the negative performance on the overnight Dow, coupled with the potential interest rates hike next week.

“Investors may take the opportunity to reduce their exposure in the market and the upside might be capped around 1,750,” the research house said.

On Bursa Malaysia, Dutch Lady was the top gainer, up 74 sen to RM56.70, Petronas Dagangan rose 20 sen to RM19.80 while Muda Holdings added 14 sen to RM1.65.

Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Sam-La ended among the top losers, declining 22 sen to RM24.36 and 20 sen to RM3.58 respectively.

Laggards in the KLCI component stocks were led by IOI Corp, CIMB Group and Axita Group while gainers in the FBM KLCI component stocks were led by Tenaga Nasional, Maybank and Petronas Gas.

Meanwhile, Brent crude was last traded at US$55.63 per barrel while US crude traded at US$52.80 per barrel.

Elsewhere in the region, Asian shares were mostly higher with the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.04%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.05% and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was up 0.05% while Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.6%.