Sustained buying interest boosts FBM KLCI

KUALA LUMPUR: The domestic market could wrap the week on a high note after stubbornly holding on to optimism amid better-than-expected earnings results from Wall Stret.

The FBM KLCI rose 1.29 points to 1,581.58 at the opening bell, and ramped up to as high as 1,587.32 in the first 10 minutes of trading as the return of foreign funds continued to lift Malaysia's blue chips.

YTL Power gained seven sen to RM4.68 and YTL Corp added seven sen to RM3.23, while Telekom Malaysia climbed six sen to RM6.20.

CIMB rose three sen to RM6.67, Tenaga Nasional climbed 14 sen to RM12.16 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong added six sen to RM23.30.

Apex Securities Research said the upbeat tone may sustain on the final trading day of the week, taking cue from the positive developments on Wall Street overnight.

"Investors will be keeping a close tab onto US unemployment rate and ISM Services data to provide gauge the strength of the world’s largest economy.

"We reckon the technology sector may mirror the positive performance on the Nasdaq overnight.

"Meanwhile, we advocate investors to steer away from the Plantation sector with CPO price languishing below RM3,800/MT," it said in its market outlook.

Malacca Securities Research said Apple's and Qualcomm's earnings results, which beat expectations and sparked a post-market jump, should provide decent support towards the technology sector.

"Meanwhile, the FBM Small Cap has trended positively at its 52-week high, which may suggest more upside on the overall market conditions.

"We opine that the construction, property, utilities, solar and building material segments will trade relatively strong on the back of the domestic catalysts

like potential revival of mega infra projects and ongoing execution of the NETR and NIMP masterplans," said the research firm in its market note.