KUALA LUMPUR: Investors picked up some stock on Bursa Malaysia after the previous day's brutal sell-off even as there remains little evidence the war in the Middle East is reaching an end.
The FBM KLCI opened 6.39 points higher to 1,694.29 on Tuesday, amid some slight positive retracement as Wall Street ended mixed.
A silver lining amid the ongoing market turmoil is the continued foreign net inflows to the Malaysian market, backed by some optimism as a senior JP Morgan analyst commented over the weekend that China and Malaysia remain two economies in Asia that are relatively insulated from the impact of oil price shocks.
Notwithstanding this, Apex Research said the market outlook is expected to remain cautious with sentiment remaining fragile. "Investors favour defensive and commodity-linked sectors while remaining sensitive to external risks and oil price movements," it said in a report.
"We favour the energy sector amid Middle East tensions, with upstream oil and gas benefiting from higher crude prices, supporting near-term earnings.
"Plantations may see indirect support from firmer biofuel demand, while defensive utilities remain attractive as investors seek stability amid heightened volatility," it added.
On the FBM KLCI, stocks remained wobbly despite the positive start. Maybank rose four sen to RM11.24 and IHH gained one sen ot MR8.91.
Press Metal
, which had rallied to an all-time high, backed down 16 sen to RM22.
Of actives, Sunway Healthcare dropped four sen to RM2.05 with 21.59 million shares crossed, TWL was unchanged at 2.5 sen after 9.1 million shares done, and Handal was flat at three sen after 3.06 million shares changed hands.
