KLCI steady in early trade

KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips were steady in early trade on Friday despite the cautious regional markets following JPMorgan's US$2bil huge loss from a failed hedging strategy.

At 9.22am, the FBM KLCI was up just 0.85 of a point to 1,588.91. Turnover was 110.82 million shares valued at RM48.77mil. There were 121 gainers, 113 losers and 157 stocks unchanged.

Reuters reported investors would also be warily watching political turmoil in the euro zone as they await new Chinese data for clues on its growth outlook.

At the home front, Maybank Investment Bank Research said due to the US markets' mixed tone, there could be another quiet trading day.

"After surging from the 1,310.53 low, the index has stalled at 1,609.33 (April 3). After the 1,609.33 high, we may have seen a retracement low at 1,566.55 on April 27.

"Range trade the market as the foreign indices are not entirely stable yet. 'Sell in May and go away' may still hold true this year. JP Morgan's US$2bil credit derivative loss may cause some volatility today though," it said.

SAM Engineering was the top gainer, surging 65 sen to RM3.65 with just 300 shares. Aeon added 23 sen to RM9.85 and Aeon Credit 20 sen to RM11.30.

Among the plantations, KLK added six sen to RM23.56 in thin trade while Kulim rose four sen to RM4.54.

Wing Tai Malaysia rose six sen to RM1.75 and Dialog added four sen to RM2.26.

On the losers list was AHB-WA, down 14 sen to six sen. PetGas shed 10 sen to RM17.18 and TimeCom eight sen to RM3.09 while Sime and BIMB shed four sen each to RM9.76 and RM2.63.