KLCI jumps over 10 points early Tuesday

KUALA  LUMPUR: Blue chips regained their momentum early Tuesday despite the cautious overnight close on Wall Street as fund buying of  Petronas Gas, Genting Bhd and Hong Leong Bank helped the FBM KLCI jump more than 10  points.

At 9.25am, the KLCI was up 10.35 points or 0.59% to 1,755.30. Turnover was 501.07 million shares valued at RM160.07mil. There were 314 gainers, 119 losers and 266 counters unchanged.

Foreign funds have been accumulating Malaysian equities and they were net buyers at RM76.7mil while local institutions and retail investors took profit.

On the external front, Reuters reported Asian stocks pulled ahead after Wall Street steadied and the dollar bounced from a four-month-low, as concern over Donald Trump's setback on his healthcare reform bill gave away to tentative hopes for the US President's planned stimulus policies.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.3% in early trade. Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.1%, its biggest one-day gain in more than two weeks, while Australian stocks advanced 0.9%.

Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research said with the Dow paring down intraday losses after falling more than 200 points, it expected bargain hunting activities to emerge further as stocks may be seen as short term oversold. 

“However, near term gains likely to be limited as Brexit will begin on March 29, which may cause some jittery actions in the markets.

“Meanwhile, investors on the local front could look for opportunities to lock in profits after a good rally last week. The KLCI could take a breather towards the support of 1,730-1,740 as traders may deploy a wait-and-see strategy over the near term,” said HLIB Research.

Among the KLCI stocks, BAT recovered to climb 42 sen to RM48.40, Petronas Gas and KL Kepong added 18 sen each to RM19.90 and RM24.88 while Genting Bhd advanced 17 sen to RM9.67. UMW, Petronas Chemicals and Hong Leong Bank rose 12 sen each to RM6.14, RM7.70 and RM13.58 respectively.

However, Teck Guan slumped 30 sen to RM2.24, Sime Darby was five sen lower at RM9.40, Notion V-Tech shed five sen to RM1.18 and Heaveaboard lost four sen to RM1.37.