FBM KLCI lower in early trade

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI turned lower after a positive start in line with negative sentiment on Wall Street.

At 9.19am, the benchmark fell 1.43 points, or 0.09% to 1,541.83, compared with 1,543.11 at last Friday’s.

There were 226 gainers, 228 losers and 328 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 612.2 million shares valued at RM192.05mil.

Hong Leong Investment Bank Research said profit-taking activities continued to weigh heavily on KLCI since hitting a high of 1,567 on Dec 31, plunging 34 points in the last four trading days.

“We hold the view that the benchmark may trend sideways in the coming days with major support hovered at 1,500-1,520-1,528 levels after retracing below the 1,552 (200D MA) levels.

“On the upside, a successful breakout above 1,552 may lift the residual strength towards 1,567-1,580-1,600 hurdles,” it said.

Kenanga Research said From a technical standpoint, the FBM KLCI may still face a bit more downside risk ahead based on the negative signals generated by both the Bollinger Band and the RSI indicator.

“With that, the FBM KLCI could show a downward bias towards our immediate support threshold of 1,510 (S1).

“We have pegged our first support-turned-resistance hurdle at 1,550 (R1).

“Yet, the upbeat performance by the small- and micro-caps in the first trading week of the year may inspire especially the retail investors to hunt for stock trading ideas going forward,” it said.

On Bursa Malaysia, MPI fell 52 sen to RM48.10, Transocean lost 17 sen to RM2.91, PMB Technology declined 16 sen to RM12.34.

Sam Engineering rose 20 sen to RM25.10, Heineken Malaysia added 16 sen to RM21.86 and Woodlandor gained 10 sen to RM1.

Among the actives, Borneo Oil was flat at three sen, MQ Technology added two sen to 12.5 sen and AHB gained 3.5 sen to 23.5 sen.