KLCI flat on lack of leads at midday

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session flat as mixed sentiment weighed on buying patterns amid lack of catalyst.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI finished at  1,754.09, down 0.58 of-a-point, after fluctuating between 1,755.52 and 1,749.95. The index opened 1.53 points lower.

In the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 389 to 361 while 386 counters were unchanged. Turnover stood at 1.83 billion shares worth RM995.22mil.

A dealer said the local stock market was in choppy trading throughout the morning session as trade jitters persist.

Kenanga Research said technically, the index outlook was positive-bias as evidenced by positive stance on MACD and RSI indicators.

“From here, we expect a short breather before continuation towards next resistance at 1,790 (R1) and 1830 (R2) further up,” it said, adding that the support levels can be identified at 1,720 (S1) and 1,700 (S2).

In the morning session, 18 of the 30 KLCI-component stocks fell, while 10 rose. 

On Bursa Malaysia, Ajinomoto is biggest loser, easing 26 sen to RM21.54, KLK fell 14 sen to RM24.26 and Hong Leong Financial declined 10 sen to RM18.10.

Among the banks, Maybank rose one sen to RM9.80, Public Bank gained two sen to RM23.96, CIMB Group added two sen to RM5.83 while Hong Leong Bank gained six sen to RM18.56.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei was down 1.29% at 22,404.45. China’s CSI300 index rose 0.2% to 3,498.73 points at the end of the morning session while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.23% to 28,288.23. South Korea’s Kospi eased 0.49% to 2,277.91.