Blue chips chalk up slight gains early Tuesday, Hong Leong Bank up

KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips eked out mild gains  early  Tuesday, underpinned by gains in Hong Leong Bank, Telekom and Genting Malaysia after the recent selling pressure but whether the FBM KLCI  can stay in the positive zone remains to be seen.

At 9.09am, the KLCI was up 0.41 of a point or 0.02% to 1,772.03. Turnover was 90.06 million shares valued at RM43.45mil. There were 113 gainers, 89 losers and 190 counters unchanged.

Asian shares edged higher on Tuesday, taking solace from modest gains on Wall Street even as investors remained wary ahead of the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole later this week, Reuters reported.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1%. South Korean shares added 0.5%, despite lingering worries about tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research said the market environment was expected to stay cautious with the on-going reporting season this month.

“Hence, KLCI's upside may be limited at 1,780. Also, technology stocks may still extend its profit taking activities and stay sluggish as the Nasdaq ended slightly lower on Monday.

“Meanwhile, oil and gas stocks may face with selling pressure as WTI and Brent crude oil declined more than 1% respectively,” it said.

Foreign funds were net sellers on Monday at RM107.7mil but local institutions were net buyers at RM96.9mil and local retailers at RM10.8mil.

Among  the KLCI stocks, Hong Leong Bank rose 16 sen to RM15.74, Telekom added 15 sen to RM6.50 and GentingM five sen higher at RM6.08.

Petron added 16 sen to RM9.45, Ken 13 sen to RM1.05, Geshen seven sento RM2.33 while Tune Protect rebounded six sen to RM1.06 in active trade.

HSSEB added three sen to RM1.05 in active trade on news it had received approval to move to the Main Market.

Among the consumer stocks, F&N fell 30 sen to RM24.38 with 200 shares done while BAT lost 26 sen to RM44.04.

Magni-Tech fell 15 sen to RM7.25, Serba Dinamik seven sen lower at RM2.15 while telcos Maxis and Digi shed five sen each to RM5.73 and RM4.79.