KLCI opens lower after a mixed Wall Street

KUALA LUMPUR: Trading on Bursa Malaysia was cautious in early trade Thursday, taking the cue from a mixed Wall Street performance overnight.

The FBM KLCI fell 0.61 of a point to 1,456.68 at 9.21am. The index opened 0.76 of a point lower at 1,456.84.

Among the losers, Hextar Technologies slid 66 sen to RM22.82, Rapid fell 44 sen to RM26.64, Malaysian Pacific Industries lost 30 sen to RM26.80 and Imaspro gave up four sen to RM5.48.

F&N added 20 sen to RM27.70, Hwa Tai Industries gained 21 sen to 69 sen, D&O rose 11 sen to RM3.45 and Kumpulan H & L High-Tech climbed 10.5 sen to 99 sen.

The US stock markets displayed a mixed performance overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.12% to 34,112.27, the S&P 500 gained 0.10% to 4,382.78 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.08% at 13,650.41.

Apex Securities said market performance could be mixed, despite improving economic conditions with unemployment rate held steady at 3.4% for three consecutive months.

It said any optimism is likely to be overshadowed by soft sentiment from Wall Street.

“Looking ahead, comments from various Federal Reserve officials, including Fed President Jerome Powell will be monitored closely.

“Meanwhile, China’s inflation rate and producer price index data as well as Malaysia’s retail sales will be in focus today. Additionally, we expect the energy sector to remain under pressure from weakness in crude oil prices with Brent oil prices slipping below US$80/bbl,” Apex said.

Inter-Pacific Research thinks that the market’s undertone is still holding steady, helped by the easing interest rate and inflationary pressures worldwide that is also permeating to local equities as well.

“Even so, there appears to be little follow-through buying interest to provide further lift to the key index and the key index is likely to be left to drift again. As it is, market players are still waiting for more leads from the ongoing results reporting season for more inklings into the corporate earnings prospects for 2024 before making further moves.

“Still, the key index could be angling for a positive end to the day after two days of pullback with the 1,460 level the immediate target.

“Thereafter, the hurdles are at 1,462-1,464 levels, followed by the 1,472 level. The supports, meanwhile, are at 1,455 points and the psychological 1,450 level,” it added.