KUALA LUMPUR: Bursas Malaysia was off to a firm start early Tuesday with buying seen in Sunway, heavyweight Tenaga Nasional and DRB-Hicom as sentiment perked up.
At 9.14am, the KLCI was up 2.3 points or 0.13% to 1,764.29. Turnover was 152.06 million shares valued at RM64.28mil. There were 139 gainers, 118 losers and 209 counters unchanged.
The US dollar crept up from a 13-month low on Tuesday after stronger-than-expected readings on U.S. factory and services activity ahead of the start of a Federal Reserve meeting later in the day, but Asian stocks were subdued, Reuters reported.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat in early trade, with a number of markets looking for fresh impetus after hitting multi-year highs in recent weeks.
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.3% and Australian stocks jumped 0.35%, making up some of Monday's 0.6% slide.
Reuters also reported oil prices extended gains on Tuesday after Opec moved to cap Nigerian oil output and Saudi Arabia pledged to limit exports next month to help rein in global oversupply.
London Brent crude for September delivery was up seven cents at US$48.67 a barrel by 0039 GMT after settling up 54 cents or 1.1% on Monday. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 10 cents at US$46.44.
On the market outlook, Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research expects trading tone in the market environment to be cautious with the FOMC meeting over the next two trading days, coupled with the on-going corporate reporting season. It expects the Dow to be hovering within 21,400-21,800.
As for Bursa Malaysia, it expected the market to trend fairly positive as the KLCI managed to surpass the 1,760 level after a 10-day consolidation phase.
“Also, selected technology stocks within the ACE market may still outperform the market amid the better sentiments from the overnight Nasdaq move,” it said.
Stock market data showed foreign funds were net buyers on Bursa on Monday at net RM125.72mil while local institutions were net sellers at RM124.05mil and local retailers RM1.67mil.
Hong Leong Bank was the top gainer, up 18 sen to RM15.98 with 100 shares done while CMSB gained 14 sen to RM3.90 and Hengyuan nine sen to RM5.99.
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