Market Commentary

The FBM KLCI index gained 10.07 points or 0.68% on Monday. The Finance Index increased 0.55% to 13494.2 points, the Properties Index dropped 0.10% to 965.87 points and the Plantation Index rose 0.94% to 7565.3 points. The market traded within a range of 17.57 points between an intra-day high of 1493.28 and a low of 1475.71 during the session.

Actively traded stocks include JCY, MAA, ZELAN, JCY-CD, OLYMPIA, IRCB, BORNOIL, MBFHLDG-WA, TMS and KURASIA. Trading volume decreased to 1331.98 mil shares worth RM1581.95 mil as compared to Friday’s 1877.90 mil shares worth RM2295.28 mil.

Leading Movers were CIMB (+11 sen to RM7.57), IOICORP (+11 sen to RM5.25), TENAGA (+12 sen to RM5.98), GENTING (+16 sen to RM10.76) and PBBANK (+10 sen to RM12.72). Lagging Movers were YTL (-2 sen to RM1.49), GAMUDA (-3 sen to RM3.40), HLBANK (-3 sen to RM10.60), TM (-1 sen to RM4.24) and PETDAG (-2 sen to RM16.30). Market breadth was positive with 426 gainers as compared to 318 losers.-- JF Apex Securities Bhd

KL shares end morning session lower

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower today on selling pressure after recent gains, led by Petronas Dagangan, dealers said.

At 12.30pm, the 30-stock index was 4.04 points lower at 1,477.78, pulled down mostly by loses in selected heavyweights, although it opened 2.84 points higher at 1,484.66 this morning.

They said the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) moved in line with the weaker trend on key equity indices on Wall Street which closed between -0.1 per cent and +0.2 per cent.

HwangDBS Vickers said the markets possibly imply waning investor optimism on the European debt bailout plan, which thus far still lacks actionable details.

"Some investors are standing on the sidelines waiting for a fresh catalyst," it said, adding, the FBM KLCI's immediate support level is seen at 1,475.

The benchmark index has gained three per cent over the last four trading days, HwangDBS said.

Meanwhile, volume stood at 637.1 million shares worth RM526.3 million with losers leading gainers 334 to 261 with 263 others unchanged and 612 untraded.

The Finance Index fell 21.16 points to 13,399.43, the Plantation Index declined 6.71 points to 7,487.97 and the Industrial Index lost 10.12 points to 2,704.54.

The FBM Emas Index decreased 29.811 points to 10,087.55, the FBM Mid 70 Index fell 51.07 points to 10,908.58 and the FBM Ace Index declined 32.03 points to 4,040.92.

Among active stocks, JCY International rose four sen to 61 sen while Integrated Rubber Corp and Borneo Oil, was up 1.5 sen each to 20.5 sen and 42.5 sen respectively.

For the heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.34 and Sime Darby fell five sen to RM8.85 but CIMB improved two sen to RM7.48. -- Bernama

KL shares open higher in early trade

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened higher in early trading today, boosted by rising appetite in riskier assets, dealers said.

After 30 minutes of trading, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up 0.08 of a point to 1,481.9, after opening 2.84 points higher at 1,484.66.

The Finance Index rose 41.22 points to 13,461.81, the Plantation Index added 3.33 points to 7,498.01 but the Industrial Index lost 5.57 points to 2,709.09.

The FBM Emas Index improved 1.199 points to 10,118.56, the FBM Mid 70 Index fell 3.051 points to 10,956.6 and the FBM Ace Index declined 12.57 points to 4,060.38.

Gainers led losers 187 to 117 while 178 counters were unchanged, 988untraded and 19 others suspended. A total of 164 million shares worth RM113.3 million were traded.

Among active stocks, Borneo Oil rose 43 sen to two sen, The Media Shoppe was flat at nine sen while Zelan added three sen to 38.5 sen.

For heavyweights, Maybank earned two sen to RM8.37, CIMB improved three sen to RM7.49 but Sime Darby lost two sen to RM8.88. -- Bernama