KUALA LUMPUR: A weaker overnight close on Wall and uncertainties ahead of the US-China trade war and G-20 meeting saw investors staying on the sidelines again early Tuesday.
At 9.33am, the FBM KLCI was down 2.02 points or 0.12% to 1,674.11. Turnover was 258.89 million shares valued at RM122.51mil. There were 140 gainers, 175 losers and 232 counters unchanged.
Kenanga Research expects the KLCI to undergo near-term pressure or consolidation. However, the underlying trend of the index has turned bullish following the break above its 100-day SMA.
“From here, resistances can be found at 1,690 (R1). A break above should see the index trend higher towards 1,730 (R2). Conversely, downside supports can be identified at 1,650 (S1) and 1,600 (S2),” it said.
Consumer stocks BAT fell 30 sen to RM28.30 and Carlsberg 26 sen to RM25.22 in thin trade.
MPI lost 10 sen to RM9.04, PPB Group 10 sen also to RM18.50, Apex Healthcare
seven sen to RM2.22 while YNH Property and Petron gave up six sen each to RM2.25 and RM6.22.
Boustead was the top gainer, up 12 sen to RM1.17, SAM Engineering eight sen to RM8.10, Tong Herr six sen to RM7.04, Vitrox five sen to RM7.04 and Serba Dinamik four sen to RM4.13.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported the US dollar remained shackled by the prospects of monetary easing by the Federal Reserve while the safe-haven Swiss franc and gold were supported by simmering tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The euro hit a three-month high of $1.14065 in early Asia trade. It has gained 2.0% from a two-week low of $1.1181 touched a week ago as the dollar has lost steam.
The dollar was on the defensive against the yen at 107.35 yen, a tad above Friday's five-month low of 107.045. The dollar's index against a basket of six major rivals fell to its lowest level in three months to 95.953 , having lost 1.7% over the past week.
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