KUALA LUMPUR (May 4): The FBM KLCI rose 0.1% in early morning trade amid mixed regional performance.
As at 9.04am, the benchmark index was up 0.18 points to 1,590.55 points.
The top gainer was Transocean Holdings Bhd, which rose 62 sen or 11.97% to RM5.80.
Meanwhile, the top loser was Unisem (M) Bhd, which shed 14 sen or 1.79%.
The most active stock was TDM Bhd, which was up 1.5 sen or 4.92% to 32 sen. The counter saw 35.46 million shares traded.
Bloomberg reported that Asian stocks were mixed and U.S. equity futures retreated Tuesday in the wake of a dip in technology giants on Wall Street. The dollar steadied after declining along with Treasury yields.
South Korean shares slid while Australia rose modestly. Trading will be limited with Japan and China among markets closed for holidays. U.S. equity contracts fell after the S&P 500 Index ended near session lows and shares such as Tesla Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. weighed on the Nasdaq 100.
Ten-year Treasury yields dropped back to around 1.6% amid comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that the economic recovery is patchy.
Commodities held an advance after silver led gains in precious metals as the prospect of near-zero rates for longer boosted demand. Oil was steady after climbing over 1%. Digital token Ether extended its surge to set another record.
In a note, the Rakuten Trade research team said it expects the FBM KLCI to continue its consolidation.
“The index is seen to hover around the 1,585-1,595 range today with anticipations of some bargain hunting activities. Meanwhile, the crude palm oil prices ended April on a high averaging at RM4,220/metric tonne,” it said.-The Edge Market