Bursa Malaysia lower at midday, KLCI down 0.25%

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower amid weaker market sentiment on Monday.

At lunch break, the FBM KLCI was 3.66 points, or 0.25% lower at 1,452.72. The index earlier slipped to its intra-morning low of 1,451.69.

The broader market sagged, with decliners overtaking advancers 502 to 268 while 420 counters were unchanged. Volume was 1.88 billion shares valued at RM921mil.

Rakuten Trade expects the buying on local stocks to continue given the attractive valuations and persistent support from foreign funds although it does not discount the possibility the of profit taking activities.

“As such we anticipate the benchmark index to trend within the range of 1,450-1,460 for today. Additionally, we expect some headwinds in the plantation sector as the CPO futures fell to below RM3,800 per tonne,” it said.

Meanwhile, TA Securities said the positive closing in the last two trading days of last week has improved short-term technical momentum for the FBM KLCI, hence there should be further upside bias this week.

Nonetheless, the research house said it was crucial that market breadth and follow-through buying momentum recover significantly to support further gains ahead.

Meanwhile, with US stocks rallying to new record highs and Treasury yields dipping further last Friday amid increasing anticipation interest rates have peaked and the Federal Reserve will pivot to rate cuts sometime next year, the positivity should spillover to brighten the local market sentiment.

“On the index, better chart supports are at 1,430, and then 1,400/1,390, while the end June low of 1,370 will act as crucial support. Immediate resistance is still at 1,465/1,470, with the 1,490/1,500 area acting as tougher upside hurdle.

“As for stocks picks for the coming week, key banking and telco counters such as AmBank, CIMB, Maybank, RHB Bank, Axiata, CelcomDigi, Maxis and TM should continue to attract bargain hunters looking for situational plays and recovery upside going forward,” TA said.

At Bursa Malaysia, Nestle plunged RM5 to RM115, Hextar Technologies slid 50 sen to RM22.22, Heineken fell 28 sen to RM21.54 and Panasonic Manufacturing declined 22 sen to RM17.68.

Among the gainers, KESM jumped 25 sen to RM7.07, Allianz rose 18 sen to RM18.38, Rapid added 18 sen to RM27.74 and Hong Leong Financial Group gained 12 sen to RM16.60.