KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips fell in early Friday trade, led by declines in Petronas Gas, KL Kepong and AFG while the broader market was mixed in lacklustre trade.
At 9.22am, the KLCI was down 1.37 points or 0.08% to 1,649.34. Turnover was 154.91 million shares valued at RM85.05mil. There were 101 gainers, 114 losers and 160 counters unchanged.
Asian shares were steady in early Friday trade as investors brace for US jobs data to see if the world's No. 1 economy is resilient enough to weather the fallout from the Brexit vote, Reuters reported.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were down 0.1% while Japan's Nikkei was up 0.5%.
Oil prices rebounded in early trading on Friday, bouncing off two-month lows hit in the previous session when prices fell 5% on news that the US weekly crude draw missed some forecasts.
Brent crude oil futures were trading at $46.95 per barrel at 0027 GMT on Friday, up 55 cents, or 1.19%, from their last settlement. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 43 cents, or 0.95%, at US$45.57 a barrel, said Reuters.
Meanwhile, Maybank Investment Bank Research recommended a “nibble on dips” strategy for Friday
It pointed out the July 2016 futures was at a large 4.29-point premium against the FBM KLCI.
“We believe supports of 1,630 to 1,647 may be areas to buy, while profit-taking activities will cap rebounds at the resistances of 1,650 and 1,684.
“The FBM KLCI fell from the 1,729.13 high, but has found a temporary floor at 1,611.88 (June 24, 2016). A firm index tone may prevail today for now after the Hari Raya holidays on June 6 and 7,” it added.
At Bursa Malaysia, Petronas Gas fell 16 sen to RM22.50 with just 100 shares done, KL Kepong lost 12 sen to RM23.10 while Bursa lost seven sen to RM8.60 and AFG was down six sen to RM4.03.
However, fund buying lifted F&N which jumped 48 sen to a new high of RM26.48 with 5,500 shares done. Carlsberg gained 10 sen to RM13.82 and BAT 10 sen higher also at RM54.28.
Hong Leong Industries gained 17 sen to RM8.20 and Unisem 11 sen to RM2.57.
AirAsia X
fell one sen to 38 sen and the warrants 0.5 sen lower at 25 sen. Also down one sen to RM2.56 in active trade.
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