KL shares open mixed

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia were mixed in early trading today, as investors took the cue from a lacklustre performance on Wall Street overnight, dealers said.

After 10 minutes of trading, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.9 of a point to 1,580.95, after opening 0.36 points higher at 1,582.21.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 12.90 points lower at 12,569.87, the S&P 500 index declined 1.79 points to 1337.88 but the Nasdaq gained 9.74 points to 2825.77.

HwangDBS Vickers Research expected investors across the region might turn a bit cautious in response to Moody’s Investors Service’s downgrade of the long-term government bond rating for Portugal to junk status.

"If so, then our Malaysian bourse could come under pressure too," the research house said in a statement today.

It said profit-taking would probably cause the benchmark FBM KLCI to pull back ahead after posting a 19.3-point gain since Monday.

Technically, the immediate support level is seen at 1,575.

The Finance Index dwindled 13.68 points to 14,872.02; the Plantation Index rose 15.09 points to 7,896.72; and the Industrial Index added 0.58 points to 2,842.77.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Emas Index gained 4.36 points to 10,852.27; the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Mid 70 Index fell 2.04 points to 11,805.91; and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Ace Index rose 10.96 points to 4,154.21.

Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 94 to 64 while 111 other counters were unchanged.

Trading volume stood at 46.49 million shares valued at RM31.46 million.

Actives, MSM-CA rose 19 sen to 34 sen, Time Engineering fell 6.5 sen to 13.5 sen and KBB Resources earned half a sen to 48.5 sen.

Heavyweights, Maybank lost one sen to RM8.93, CIMB fell one sen to RM8.86 and Petronas Chemicals rose one sen to RM7.10. - Bernama