KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Iskandar Waterfront City (IWCity), Bursa Malaysia and Felda Global Ventures (FGV) climbed in early Monday trade while the Ringgit was firmer against the US dollar.
At 10am, the FBM KLCI was up 0.94 of a point or 0.05% to 1,718.52. Turnover was 926.06 million shares valued at RM571.86mil. There were 293 gainers, 317 losers and 317 counters unchanged.
The Ringgit edged up 0.02% to 4.4480 from the previous close of 4.4490.
Asian shares started the week on a cautious note on Monday as strong US jobs data cemented expectations of a hike in US interest rates this week and as oil prices plunged to 3 1/2-month lows on fresh worries of oversupply, Reuters reported.
On the market outlook, Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research said despite Wall Street ended higher last Friday, “we expect more consolidation to be seen as investors would take a wait-and-see stance ahead of FOMC meeting, coupled with softer Brent oil prices, which plunged towards US$51.30 (-7.98% week-on-week) last week”.
HLIB Research added share prices on Bursa Malaysia may be due for a short term consolidation as the KLCI is trading near the resistance level of 1,720.
“However, as the FBM Small Cap still trending positively above 16,000, traders may look for opportunities under the small caps and lower liners for proxies towards GLC-linked theme play,” it said.
IWCity hit limit-up early Monday on strong trading interest, the second time since last Friday, surging to a high of RM2.93. It was trading up 46 sen to RM2.74 with 57.44 million shares done.
Bursa Malaysia added 18 sen to RM9.23 while FGV added eight sen to RM1.91 in active trade and UMW gained seven sen to RM5.84. HLFG rose eight sen to RM15.70.
Teck Guan added 13 sen to RM2.45, MPI and Knusford 12 sen each to RM10.20 and RM1.57.
However, Shell Refining lost 15 sen to RM3.39 and Petron was nine sen lower to RM5.74 on profit taking after the recent rally in their share prices.
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