KUALA LUMPUR: Investors are expected to take profit ahead of the weekend after steady gains made this week, and as trading sentiment sours once again on renewed escalation in the Middle East.
The FBM KLCI opened 1.55 points higher at 1,723.25, putting the week's increase at about 1.6% from the previous Friday. However, there could be cracks in the upbeat sentiment, which was in part driven by optimism over global AI-related earnings, as tensions in Iran threaten to derail ongoing peace negotiations.
Oil prices have also marched higher, spiking over 3% to US$105 a barrel in the overnight session to underline energy security warnings by the chief of the International Energy Agency and inflation fears.
Apex Securities said it expects the FBM KLCI to trade with a downward bias as external headwinds and cautious global sentiment are likely to outweigh the recent rebound driven by foreign inflows.
"Despite improving market breadth previously, the lack of broad-based sector participation suggests underlying momentum remains fragile, which could lead to near-term profit taking.
"Externally, persistent tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and elevated Brent crude prices continue to cloud the outlook, raising inflation concerns and dampening risk appetite.
"The pullback in U.S. equities and weakness across regional markets further reinforce a risk-off tone, which is likely to weigh on domestic sentiment," it said in its morning report.
On the blue-chip index, PETRONAS Chemicals climbed seven sne to RM5.62 amid the increase in oil price. Tenaga Nasional rose eight sen to RM14.68 and Press Metal
added three sen to RM8.10.
Bank succumbed to profit-taking once again, with Maybank falling four sen to RM11.18, Hong Leong Bank dropping 28 sne to RM22.58 and Public Bank sliding one sen to RM4.83.
In active shares, SMRT rose 0.5 sen to 17 sen, AirAsia X gained one sen to RM1.24 and Velesto was up 0.5 sen to 32.5 sen.
