Rakuten's Thong said the local market bellwether was expected to inch higher ahead of the proposed dissolution of the state legislatures by the end of the month.
KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI settled slightly higher at close yesterday backed by mild buying support in selected heavyweights amid mixed regional market performance.
At 5pm yesterday, the index rose 1.91 points to 1,383.17 from 1,381.26 at its close last Friday.
The key index opened 0.84 points higher at 1,382.10 yesterday morning and moved between 1,377.35 and 1,383.58 throughout the tradingsession.
However, the broader market was negative with 507 decliners and 355 advancers, while 413 counters were unchanged, 968 untraded and 14 others suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 3.55 billion units worth RM1.92bil versus 3.60 billion units worth RM1.94bil last Friday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices were influenced by investors’ mixed reactions after economic data showed that the US services sector unexpectedly softened in May.
The latest data indicated some signs of economic weakening in the United States, he told Bernama.
“Trading activities across the region remained somewhat subdued as investors look ahead to next week’s US Federal Reserve meeting,” he said.
Thong said the local market bellwether was expected to inch higher ahead of the proposed dissolution of the state legislatures by the end of the month.
He added that the investors were reluctant to commit large positions in the stock market due to the local political climate at the moment.
“Nonetheless, the benchmark index remains in the oversold position for some time and we expect bargain hunting to prevail, hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend higher within the 1,380 to 1,395 range for the week,” he said.
Among heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd
was flat at RM8.58, Public Bank Bhd added three sen to RM3.81, Tenaga Nasional Bhd eased 12 sen to RM9.30.
Meanwhile, CelcomDigi Bhd slid eight sen to RM4.40 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd shed three sen to RM6.52.
Of the actives, Borneo Oil Bhd was flat at 1.5 sen, Dagang Nexchange Bhd fell 4.5 sen to 47 sen, Advance Synergy Bhd rose 1.5 sen to 15 sen.
Techna-X Bhd put on half-a-sen to two sen and Classita Holdings Bhd gained one sen to 13 sen.
