KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia started on a flattish note on Monday as ongoing developments in the global and domestic environment continue to keep investors on the sidelines.
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At the opening bell, the benchmark FBM KLCI was up 0.66 points to 1,391.55, following a decline last Friday that snapped three straight days of gains.
Malacca Securities Research said in a note it expects the market to continue monitoring economic data from Japan, the US and China for further clarity on the current state of the economy.
“Meanwhile, the pullback on Wall Street last Friday, coupled with the bigger-than-expected rate hike from the Bank of England, as well as Japanese inflation rising faster-than-expectation may weigh on the market sentiment,” it added.
From a technical perspective, indicators were mixed as the MACD histogram extended a positive while the RSI was slightly below 50.
“Resistance is pegged along 1,400-1,440, while the support is set around 1,370,” said the research firm.
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Among blue chips, banks stocks were mostly higher with Public Bank gaining two sen to RM3.90, CIMB rising two sen to RM5.23 and Hong Leong Bank adding 10 sen to RM18.90.
Sime Darby Plantation eased three sen to RM4.27, IHH shed two se to RM5.84 and PETRONAS Chemicals was down one sen to RM6.16.
Apollo, which recently released its quarterly earnings result, fell 17 sen to RM4.08 while Pertama Digital dropped eight sen to RM2.77.
Gamuda was down four sen to RM4.42 and Mulpha slid four sen to RM2.44.
Top actives included Classita unchanged at 9.5 sen, Bahvest up two sen to 18.5 sen and Couldpoint shedding one sen to 54 sen.
– The Star