KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips started Monday on a positive note, with the FBM KLCI advancing on gains by Hong Leong Bank and HLFG while Sime Property rose in active trade.
At 9.45am, the KLCI was up 2.95 points or 0.17% to 1,724.20. Turnover was 314.36 million shares valued at RM144.28mil. There were 242 gainers, 161 losers and 241 counters unchanged.
Kenanga Investment Bank Research said whilst momentum indicators did show some improvement, overall technical outlook of KLCI remains bearish at this juncture despite having to rebound from its support recently.
“As such we see any near-term relief to encounter resistance at the 1,729 (R1) or 1,734 (R2) levels.
“As for the downside, support levels are identified at 1,714 (S1), where a break below is extremely negative and could trigger a capitulation towards 1,700 (S2) below,” it said.
Hong Leong Bank rose 26 sen to RM16.26 and HLFG 10 sen to RM16.86 in thin trade. Sime Property added nine sen to RM1.37.
Nestle was the top gainer, nearing the key RM100 level, climbing 34 sen to RMM99.80.
Petron was up 20 sen to RM12.66, Lysaght 11 sen to RM4, SKP Resources gained 11 sen to RM2.24.
Sapura Energy
, which was hammered down last week after its quarterly losses, rose 1.5 sen to 84.5 sen with 21 million shares done.
As for glove makers, Top Glove added 11 sen to RM6.51 and Hartalega nine sen higher at RM9.28.
Win a prize this Mother's Day by subscribing to our annual plan now! T&C applies.
