Bursa rebounds:
The Malaysian stock market picks up again in tandem with most Asian markets after suffering some steep declines last week, with the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gaining 6.5 points to 1,539.
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian stock market rebounded in tandem with most Asian bourses, after suffering some steep declines last week.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ( FBM KLCI) gained 6.45 points to close at 1,538.91. Volume was thin, with only 780.03 million shares valued at Rm1.08bil changing hands in trades that saw gainers overwhelming losers by 385 to 306, while 301 counters were unchanged.
“The market has been oversold for a few days already, so we are not surprised by the technical rebound of the FBM KLCI,” Kenanga Investment Bank head of research Chan Ken Yew told Starbiz.
“In such an oversold position, we think, over the short term, it is even possible for the local stock market to advance to a range of 1,550 to 1,560 points,” he added.
According to BIMB Securities technical analyst Ng Keat Yung, two main factors led to the rebound in the FBM KLCI yesterday.
He noted that one of the factors was the positive movement of the European markets in early trade, and the other was the advancement of Sime Darby Bhd, which alone contributed 2.27 points to the local stock market’s gain.
“The counter was the main mover of the market. Traders are buying into the stock because of its oversold position,” Ng explained.
Sime Darby yesterday gained 16 sen to close at RM9.40.
Topping the list of gainers yesterday were Kulim Malaysia Bhd, up 34 sen to RM4.60; PPB Group Bhd, up 26 sen to RM15.60; Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, up 22 sen to RM22; Time Dotcom Bhd, up 19 sen to RM2.90; and Jaya Tiasa Holdings Bhd, up 17 sen to RM8.25.
The top losers were British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, down 60 sen to RM51.40; MBM Resources Bhd, down 23 sen to RM2.96; AEON Co (M) Bhd, down 20 sen to RM9.50; and Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, down 20 sen to RM17.80.
“Overall, we think the market will remain volatile; there is no sign of any bullish indicators emerging yet,” Ng said.
Chan concurred, saying the overall sentiment of the market remained very cautious at this stage because of the deepening eurozone debt crisis. He believed that would be the trend at least until fresh elections in Greece on June 17.
The outcome of the elections is widely seen as an indicator as to whether Greece would remain a euro member.
Meanwhile, amid the gloomy mood stemming from eurozone economy, China had over the weekend pledged to boost growth, somewhat temporarily offsetting concern over Greece’s possible exit from the single currency.
Malaysia will be releasing its firstquarter gross domestic product (GDP) data tomorrow. A Bloomberg survey of 22 economists puts the median estimate for the GDP growth at 4.6%.