KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI drifted lower in early trade Thursday as Tenaga Nasional dragged, despite the improved regional market sentiment after a rally on Wall Street overnight
At 9.13am, the FBM KLCI lost 1.59 points to 1,422.69. The index opened 0.4 of a point higher at 1,424.74.
Among the losers on Bursa Malaysia, United Plantations fell 12 sen to RM15.98, Carlsberg lost 10 sen to RM21.60, Tenaga slid seven sen to RM9.68 and Hap Seng declined six sen to RM4.37.
PPB rose 18 sen to RM16.14, Dutch Lady added 12 sen to RM26, K Seng Seng Corp gained 10 sen to RM1.30 and Multi-Usage Holdings climbed 10 sen to 60 sen.
Overnight, the Dow Jones jumped 408.63 points or 1.2% to 33,420.77, while the Nasdaq spiked 157.51 points or 1.3% to 12,500 and S&P 500 rose 1.19% to 4,158.77.
TA Securities said stocks should rebound following overnight strength on Wall Street on optimism US politicians are close to resolving the US debt ceiling impasse ahead of the deadline to avoid a default.
“Immediate index support stays at the 1,400 psychological level, while key chart supports remain the recent low of 1,391 and last October’s low of 1,372.
“Immediate overhead resistance is at 1,450, followed by the leveling 200-day moving average at 1,456, with 1,480 and 1,500 acting as stronger resistance levels,” the research house said.
Malacca Securities said although the deal for the US debt ceiling is not reached, the market could be speculating a positive outcome before this weekend to be seen on the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations, hence this has contributed to the strong performance on Wall Street and the market has seen reducing exposure on gold.
“However, on our local front, the state election, coupled with the ongoing earnings season could cap the upside potential at least for the near term.
“With the positive performance from Wall Street, we believe traders may look into riskier sectors in the near term. We expect the healthcare-related stocks to take the lead on the back of recovering earnings, while investors may look into poultry stocks for investing opportunities after Teo Seng’s stellar results,” Malacca Securities said. – The Star