Market Close KLCI inches 0.2% higher, fund buying seen intact

by **Cals** Wed 18 Jun 2014, 03:13

Market Close KLCI inches 0.2% higher, fund buying seen intact

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Jeffrey Tan of theedgemalaysia.com

Tuesday, 17 June 2014 17:25

KUALA LUMPUR (June 17): The FBM KLCI inched up to close 3.02 points or 0.16% higher at 1,874.60 points, on perception that fund buying is still intact.

SJ Securities’ remisier Goh Kay Chong said market indicators showed the KLCI was still supported by fund buying despite a thin trading volume.

“If the buying trend continues, we foresee a bullish market ahead,” he told theedgemalaysia.com over the telephone.

Across Bursa Malaysia, a total of 1.6 billion shares, worth RM1.8 billion were traded. Market gainers led decliners by 468 versus 353, while 317 counters were unchanged.

The top gainer was British American Tobacco (M) Bhd while the leading decliner was Uzma Bhd. The most active counter was Malaysian Airline System Bhd.

Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank Research in a note today said it expects the KLCI to remain in tight range bound consolidation mode amid low volume during the FIFA World Cup period.

It said market sentiment was also dented by increased geopolitical risks in Ukraine and Iraq, coupled with the lack of domestic rerating catalysts.

Most Asian stock markets fell on Tuesday as the deepening conflict in Iraq and a gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia sapped investors' appetite for riskier assets, according to Reuters in an early afternoon report today.

Reuters also reported that President Barack Obama considered options for military action to support Iraq’s besieged government on Monday, and U.S. and Iranian officials held talks to stabilise the region, which has been roiled by the advance of Sunni rebels toward Baghdad.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.3 percent. Japan's Nikkei bucked the trend with a rise of 0.3 percent, though it was still down on the week so far.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.92% lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also closed 0.42% lower.

Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.40%, but Singapore’s Straits Times Index closed 0.48% down.