Market Open KLCI drifts marginally higher, Bernanke testimony boosts Asian equities

by **Cals** Thu 18 Jul 2013, 09:35

Market Open KLCI drifts marginally higher, Bernanke testimony boosts Asian equities
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Surin Murugiah of theedgemalaysia.com
Thursday, 18 July 2013 09:13

KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): The FBM KLCI drifted marginally higher in early trade on Thursday while most regional markets notched gains following Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s congressional testimony a day earlier.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI added 2.38 points to 1,791.04.

Gainers led losers by 133 to 54, while 129 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 86.74 million shares valued at RM55.20 million.

The early gainers included Allianz, Lafarge Malaysia, Aeon, Zhulian, Batu Kawan, Tenaga, KPJ Healthcare and Bursa Malaysia.

BIMB Securities Research in a market preview Thursday said that it seemed like Feds chairman Bernanke had succeeded in managing investors expectations following his testimony reiterating that the QE will continue in the foreseeable future.

Though the statement did not instigate a buying frenzy, at least the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained composed as it gained almost 19 points to close at 15,470, it said.

The research house said European stocks were also firmer from developments in the US.

As for Asia, it was a mixed day as anxiety over China’s growth path as well as that of emerging markets may be increasing, it said.

“Locally, the FBM KLCI ended the day 2.27 points higher to 1,788.86 again attributed to some last minute buying activities. We remain unconvinced of the market’s trend of late and still believe a downside bias for the local bourse.

“Expect the index to remain flat as it is stuck at a narrow band of 1,780-90 over the past week. Meanwhile, we noticed MISC since its inclusion back into the FBMKLCI is fast becoming an outperformer gaining almost 9% from 1st July and envisage more upside for this shipping giant,” it said.

Asian shares inched up to a near five-week high on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pledged to keep monetary policy easy for the foreseeable future, while the dollar held on to modest overnight gains.

Although Bernanke stuck to a timeline that he first outlined in June to wind down the Fed's $85 billion a month bond-buying programme, he went out of his way to stress that nothing was set in stone.