KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI barely moved as trading commenced on Tuesday after it had yesterday reclaimed the 1,700-point psychological level in a sign of improving risk appetite.
The benchmark index crept higher a marginal 0.31 points to 1,702.61 following a modest decline on Wall Street overnight as traders parsed the latest developments in the Middle East.
Apex Securities expects the FBM KLCI to rade on a cautiously positive footing over th enear term, supported by resilient domestic sentiment and strength across financials and selected technology names, although the upside may remain capped by lingering geopolitical risks.
"The negative market breadth suggests underlying sentiment remains selective, with investors likely to continue rotating into large-cap defensives and earnings-supported sectors," it said in its morning review.
However, the research firm said the domestic stock market could be find support from firmer overnight US futures as well as improving regional risk appetite.
"For today, we expect the index to remain range-bound with a mild upward bias, underpinned by positive spillover from regional markets, although sentiment is likely to stay headline-sensitive amid ongoing geopolitical developments and the upcoming batch of US macro and earnings releases," it added.
Traders were selective on blue-chip buying with heavyweights such as CIMB, gaining 14 sen to RM7.73, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbing eight sen to RM20.96 and PETRONAS Dagangan rising 16 sen to RM20.36.
In actively traded stocks, Axteria rose one sen to 16.5 sen after the resignations of its chairman and deputy chairman and the appointment of two new directors in a board reshuffle.
VS Industry gained one sen to 20 sen and Sunway Healthcare rose two sen to RM1.95.
