KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia got off to a cautious start on Wednesday, with the FBM KLCI dipping into the red, tracking the cautious key Asian markets.
At 9.15am, the KLCI was down 2.34 points or 0.13% to 1,823.69. Turnover was 671.45 million shares valued at RM144.65mil. There were 171 gainers, 185 losers and 240 counters unhanged.
Asian stocks stepped back from a record high on Wednesday as the region's resource shares were dented by falling oil and commodity prices while digital currencies tumbled on worries about tighter regulations, Reuters reported.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.1% from its record high as resource shares declined after oil and other commodities succumbed to profit-taking after recent gains. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.7% from its 26-year peak hit the previous day.
Digital currencies tumbled, with bitcoin falling to a six-week low of US$10,162 after reports said South Korea and China could ban trading, which intensified fears of a wider regulatory crackdown.
Bitcoin stood at US$11,362, after a fall of 16.3% on Tuesday, its biggest daily decline in four months.
On the technical outlook for the KLCI, Kenanga Investment Bank Research expected further gains towards resistance at 1840 (R1) levels and 1866 (R2).
“Any near-term weakness is likely to be short-term in nature, with immediate supports at 1,800 (S1) and 1,793 (S2), where investors can look forward to buying on dips,” it said.
At Bursa Malaysia, the call warrants of Maybank-C37 fell 21 sen t 14 sen while Karex-C9 was down 12.5 sen to 9.5 sen, Ecowrold-CM tumbled 9.5 sen to one sen, Top Glove-C28 lost 8.5 sen to 19.5 sen and DRB-Hicom-C49 6.5 sen lower at 16.5c.
Carlsberg fell 16 sen to RM15.70 with just 100 shares done, AmBank nine sen lower at RM4.71, Kuchai eight sen to RM2.26 and MAHB six sen to RM8.97.
Perisai and Sumatec fell 1.5 sen each to 7.5 sen and 10.5 sen in active trade while UMW OG edged up 0.5 sen to 41 sen.
Nestle rose 40 sen to RM106.50, BAT 18 sen to RM33.38 and F&N 12 sen higher at RM28.48.
Petron rebounded 22 sen to RM12.50 and Hengyuan 16 sen to RM14.50.
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