KUALA LUMPUR: An early rebound on Bursa Malaysia on Thursday was short-lived as profit-taking took hold within minutes of the opening bell following the stock exchange's return from the Hari Raya Haji break.
Raising hopes of an end to the local market's three-week decline, there has been an uptick in global investor sentiment given positive developments in the Middle East, which brought oil prices lower and pushed Wall Street's major indices to fresh record highs.
The FBM KLCI opened 7.81 points higher to 1,706.83. However, by 9.10am, traders changed gears to profit-taking, taking the index down 3.08 points to 1,695.94.
Bursa Malaysia is in the penultimate day of the first-quarter results period, with a few heavyweight banks waiting to hand in their quarterly reports.
The results thus far have failed to lift the spirits of investors, who continue to eye developments in the Middle East amid conflicting reports from the US and Iran authorities.
According to Apex Securities, the FBM KLCI remains under pressure and has slipped back into its consolidation pattern after failing to sustain above the earlier breakout level, suggesting near-term momentum has weakened.
"Nevertheless, the broader uptrend remains intact as the index continues to hold above its rising long-term trendline and SMA120. Immediate support is seen at 1,690, while resistance stands at 1,720," it said in its technical outlook.
In the blue-chip index, IHH dropped nine sen to RM8.89, Nestle shed RM2.26 to RM92.72 and PPB dropped 12 sen to RM9.90.
Sunway jumped 16 sen to RM5.40 while Gamuda gained five sen to RM4.30.
Among leading actives, OGX jumped 8.5 sen to 43.5 sen, Inari Amertron
gained eight sne to RM2.30 and Hengyuan Refining rose 11 sen to RM1.29.
