Market Open KLCI falls 0.08%, cautious trading seen ahead of elections

Business & Markets 2013
Written by Chong Jin Hun of theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 26 April 2013 09:25
A + / A - / Reset
KUALA LUMPUR (April 26): The FBM KLCI fell in early trade amid
cautious trading ahead of Malaysia's general election on May 5 this
year.
At 9.05am, the KLCI was down 1.38 points or 0.08% to 1,704.96 on
losses in blue chip stocks like BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO (M) []
Bhd and PETRONAS GAS BHD [].
Across Bursa Malaysia, some 17 million shares worth RM12.58 billion
changed hands. There were 70 gainers versus 45 decliners.
The top gainer was PETRONAS DAGANGAN BHD [] while United
PLANTATION []s Bhd led decliners. The most-active stock was SINO
HUA-AN INTERNATIONAL BHD [].
HwangDBS Vickers Research Sdn Bhd wrote in a note that the KLCI
may close near 1,706 points today, similar to last Friday' level.
"With no fresh market developments in sight, trading activity will likely
remain slow in the run-up to the 13th General Election.
"This comes in spite of an overnight rebound on Wall Street. Major US
equity barometers ended up between 0.2% and 0.6% as corporate
earnings beat expectations while jobless claims were down,"
HwangDBS said.
Across Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.06%, South Korea's Kospi declined
0.33% while Singapore's Straits Times rose 0.36%.
Reuters reported that Asian shares steadied on Friday, tracking global equities higher after upbeat U.S. labour market data,
with investors turning their attention toward corporate earnings to assess the outlook for growth after a recent run of soft
global data undermined sentiment.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed, after reaching its highest since mid-March on
Thursday.