Bursa Malaysia picks up slightly against bearish outlook – Business News

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia has managed a rebound shy Monday morning following the decline in confidence last week and widespread losses of global stocks.

At the same time, trading at the local stock exchange this week should be kept to a minimum as investors stay on the sidelines before tabling the national budget on Friday.

In the early markets, the Japanese Nikkei rose 1% in the first hour of trading, while the ASX200 in Australia rose 0.66%

At 9:14, the FBM KLCI index was up 1.28 points to reach 1,684.34. The turnover amounted to 179.4 million shares, for a value of 75.34 million RM. There were 123 winners against 140 and over 173 counters unchanged.

According to Kenanga Research, the prospect of the local index remains bearish, as it remains below the 1,700 line of psychological support.

"The key indicators, meanwhile, remain in a negative state, showing no signs of recovery in the short term.

"Immediate support levels to watch for are 1,658 (S1) and 1,614 (S2), where some bargain hunting activities are expected, although a break below 1,614 would be extremely negative.

"If market sentiment improves, the main resistance levels to look for would be 1,700 (R1) and 1,735 (R2)."

Seeing the first active trading, Gamuda returns to the radar of investors after the reinstatement of its MRT2 tunneling contract, although its contractual value is lower. The stock rose from five sen to RM2.52.

Among the other main assets, Seacera gained 2.5 Sen at 18 Sen, while Tat Giap increased from 1.5 Sen to 18 Sen.

Among the heavyweights that register a dynamic, let us mention TNB, which goes from six sen to 14,10 and the IHH adds seven sen to 4,87. Hong Leong Bank led the losses with a decline of 16 sen to 20.52 RM.

MPI continued to see bearish pressure, dropping six Sen at RM11.04, while Vitrox was shaving seven Sen at RM7.52 and Unisem at six Sen at 2.87.

Prices remained stable in the oil markets, following the rapid recovery of global equities. Brent futures increased by 15 cents to 77.77 USD per barrel, while those of West Texas Intermediate rose 30 cents to 67.89 USD per barrel.