FBM KLCI opens lower but rebounds later

KUALA LUMPUR: The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) opened lower but rebounded thereafter on renewed buying interest following positive external developments particularly from the United States, dealers said.

At 9.11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,848.91, up 1.41 points, after opening 0.36 of a point easier at 1,847.14.

Aggressive early buying momentum, with gains mostly spotted in blue chips, lifted the local bourse higher.

CIMB led gains with the bank's share rising eight sen to RM7.72 with 65,900 lots changing hands.

Market breadth was positive with gainers thumping losers 188 to 63 while 127 counters were unchanged, 1,176 untraded and 16 others were suspended. 

Turnover stood at 59.71 million shares worth RM51.326 million.

HwangDBS Vickers Research said the US Federal Reserve would start the tapering process in January and Wall Street cheered on the news.

At the Federal Open Market Committee meeting that ended yesterday, the policymakers decided to modestly reduce the pace of its monthly asset purchases from US$85 billion to US$75 billion.

It will take effect from January while reaffirming that its highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain for a considerable time. 

"Reacting to this surprising move, leading US bellwethers jumped to new record levels when they posted gains of between 1.2 and 1.8 per cent last night. 

The Wall Street euphoria will likely spread over to Asian equities today.

"Back home, the FBM KLCI on our local bourse could plot fresh highs too by overcoming its existing peak of 1,851.94 to test the immediate resistance line of 1,860 ahead," the research house said in a note.

Hoping to ride on the positive market momentum today are index laggards like Ambank, Axiata, Genting Bhd, Hong Leong Bank, IHH Healthcare, MISC, Sime Darby and UMW. 

On the scoreboard, the Finance Index chalked up 37.6 points to 16,921.28, the Industrial Index added 4.55 points to 3,144.55 but the Plantation Index fell 44.59 points to 8,902.1.

The FBM Emas Index improved 11.41 points to 12,739.65, FBMT100 Index increased 13.35 points to 12,477.26, FBM 70 advanced 31.1 points to 14,091.96 and the FBM Ace was up 19.04 points at 5,645.91.

Among actives, both Asian Pac and MAS inched up half-a-sen each to 15.5 sen and 31 sen, respectively, while Xidelang Holdings gained 1.5 sen to 33 sen. 

Of heavyweights, TNB earned four sen to RM10.98, Sime Darby perked two sen to RM9.58, Axiata Group was flat at RM6.80 but Maybank slipped four sen to RM10.06. -