KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI pared its earlier losses at midday, in line with the firmer key Asian markets, supported by index-linked heavyweight counters.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark rose 5.57 points to 1,742.85. The index had earlier slipped to its intra-morning low of 1,730.38. It opened 3.39 points lower at 1,733.89 this morning.
Turnover was 1.488 billion shares valued at RM952.27mil. There were 446 gainers, 277 losers and 413 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia.
Technically, Kenanga Research said the FBM KLCI outlook was increasingly positive with momentum indicators appearing to favour the upside, as evidenced by strong upwards movement in the MACD, RSI and Stochastic.
“From here, we expect an eventual move towards 1,760 (R1), where a decisive break-through could see the index advancing towards 1,790 (R2). Meanwhile, immediate support levels are identified at 1,720 (S1) and 1,615 (S2),” Kenanga said.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 55.53 points, or 0.22%, to 25,119.89, while the S&P 500 is up 11.12 points, or 0.40%, to 2809.55.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, discounting the risk that a trade war may throw a global recovery off track, said the economy is on the cusp of ”several years” where the job market remains strong and inflation stays around the Fed’s 2% target.
The Fed chair signaled not just that he believes the economy is doing well, but that an era of stable growth may continue provided the Fed gets its policy decisions right.
Leading the mover on the index was Axiata Group, climbing 12 sen to RM4.35. CIMB Group
added eight sen to RM5.75, Maxis rose six sen to RM5.56, Genting Malaysia gained seven sen RM5.13 and Maybank gained three sen to RM9.61.
Cashless payment solutions provider Revenue Group Bhd made a strong debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia. The counter rose 30 sen to 67 sen with 149.5 million shares traded.
Revenue Group raised RM20.61mil from its public issue of 55.71 million new shares.
China stocks rose on Wednesday, underpinned by gains in utility firms, and joined a rally in Asian peers after an upbeat outlook from the head of the U.S. central bank, Reuters reported.
The CSI300 index rose 0.5% to 3,466.58 points while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.5% to 2,812.34 points. The Hang Seng index rose 0.3% to 28,268.79 points,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.53% to 22,817.48 and South Korea’s Kospi rose 1% to 2,300 points.
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