KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips fell early Thursday, dragged down by losses in Petronas Dagangan and Axiata but trading volume of these stocks were razor thin.
At 9.10am, the KLCI was down 1.8 points or 0.11% to 1,676.44. Turnover was 387.36 million shares valued at RM164.68mil. There were 196 gainers, 120 losers and 185 counters unchanged.
Asian shares paused as investors awaited data from China for clues about the health of the world's second largest economy while the pound shot up to near nine-month highs as the risk of a no-deal Brexit receded following a late-night vote, Reuters reported.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was barely changed at 522.38 points. Japan's Nikkei jumped 0.6% while Australian and New Zealand shares each added 0.2%.
Kenanga Research said despite the gains made, the overall technical outlook for the KLCI still appears lacklustre as key momentum indicators are bearish.
“The index may trend lower to its support level at 1,650 (S1) and even 1,630 (S2). Conversely, immediate resistances can be found at 1,700 (R1) and 1,730 (R2),” it said.
F&N fell the most, down 90 sen to RM34.36 with 200 shares done while BAT lost 26 sen to RM34. QL Resources fell 12 sen to RM6.82.
Petronas Dagangan fell 24 sen to RM25.06 with 100 shares done, HLFG 18 sen to RM19.12, Axiata six sen to RM4.16. Dialog gained seven sen to RM3.27.
As for plantations, PPB Group was down 10 sen to RM18.08 and Sime Plantations four sen lower at RM5.05.
KESM extended its losses after the plunge in its earnings, down eight sen to RM8.60.
Penny oil and gas stocks rose in active trade.
Perdana jumped 6.5 sen to 51.5 sen and it was the most active with 52.6 million shares done, Destini
added five sen to 30.5 sen, Sapura Energy 0.5 sen to 34.5 sen while Velesto gained 1.5 sen to 32 sen. Bumi Armada added one sent to 20.5 sen.
Bermaz was the top gainer, up 16 sen to RM2.40 while KKB added 13 sen to RM1.35 and Press Metal five sen higher at RM4.50.
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