KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips wavered in early Wednesday trade, in line with the subdued key Asian market but UWC, which made its debut on the Main Market, was in the limelight.
At 9.23am, the KLCI was down 0.21 of a point or 0.01% to 1,682.66. Turnover was 339.89 million shares valued at RM231.44mil. There were 195 gainers, 160 losers and 226 counters unchanged.
Stocks in Asia were trading mixed after a subdued session on Wall Street, with investors awaited clues on policy from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Bloomberg reported.
US Treasury yields touched a three-week high, offering support for the dollar.
Japan’s Topix index dropped at the open, while shares rose in South Korea and Australia. Futures on the S&P 500 Index were little changed after closing almost flat on Tuesday.
Yields on 10-year Treasuries reached 2.07%, while the dollar hit the highest in more than five weeks against the yen. Mexico’s peso steadied after sliding on news that the country’s finance minister quit.
Meanwhile, Maybank IB Research said bargain hunting among investors is likely to shift from blue chip and large cap stocks to second and third liners in the near term.
"Technically, we expect the KLCI to range between 1,670and 1,700 today. Downside supports are at 1,670 and 1,656," it said.
Integrated engineering supporting services provider, UWC made a strong debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia, opening at RM1.10, which was 26 sen above its offer price of 82 sen.
At 9.23am, it was trading at RM1.25 or 43 sen above its offer price of 82 sen. It was among the most active stock with 86.27 million shares done.
KESM rose 16 sen to RM8.40 while MI gained nine sen to RM1.82 and SAM Enbneering seven sen higher at RM8.66. However, MPI lost 17 sen to RM9.32 with 100 shares done.
Petronas Dagangan and DRB-Hicom added eight sen each to RM25.62 and RM2.54.
Chin Tek fell the most, down 52 sen to RM6.17 with 800 shares done. Aeon Credit
was down 18 sen to RM16.60, HLFG and Public Bank 10 sen each to RM18.76 and RM22.96.
IJM fell 11 sen to RM2.32 after the termination from MRCB-George Kent for its RM1.115bil tunneling contract for LRT 3.
“Despite this negative setback, we are maintaining our Buy rating on IJM. We see any price weakness as an opportunity to buy the stock as we expect the government to accelerate its pump-priming efforts in 2020,” Alliance DBS Research said.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
