KLCI Takes Pause As Investors Digest Recent Gains

The FBM KLCI ended unchanged from the previous session close after an early-morning rally as investors took some profit while awaiting new trading leads.

The key index was up 0.48 points at midday to 1,608.07 after having risen over seven points earlier in the day.

We maintain our positive tone on the local bourse as investors will continue to pin their expectations over the economic recovery following the recent batch of corporate earnings that appears to have bottomed out," said Malacca Securities Research.

The top losers included Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Can-One Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd, and Public Bank Bhd.

Japanese and Australian shares dipped when trading began, while those in South Korea were slightly higher. Contracts on the S&P 500 were little changed after the index snapped a four-day winning streak Thursday. Ten-year Treasury yields held near the highest level since March. The euro earlier surged after the European Central Bank announced a bigger-than-expected boost to its emergency bond-buying program, it said.

Public Bank, whose earnings were announced after the end of trading on Friday, pulled back 52 sen to RM18.08 as the worst-performing heavyweight on the FBM KLCI.

CIMB, which also reported underwhelming results, lost 10 sen to RM3.73.

Meanwhile, Hong Leong Bank jumped 92 sen to RM17.94 and Maybank was up one sen to RM8.30.

JF Apex Securities Research said US markets ended flat with the Dow closing slightly higher while the Nasdaq and S&P declined after jobless claims were worse than expected.

It said that earlier, European stocks closed lower after the European Central Bank announced a larger-than-expected stimulus program.

Meanwhile, regional markets digested their recent gains as investors awaited more clarity on the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccines.

Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.6% while China's composite index rose 1.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.5%.

In Australia, the ASX200 was down 0.8%.

On the local market, the FBM KLCI rose 23.31 points to 1561.84 points.

Following the negative performances in the US and Europe, the FBM KLCI could pull back from recent gains with support at 1550 points,” it said.