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KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 2): Bursa Malaysia’s leading index reversed its previous loss and rose above the 1,500 level at the midday break as health stocks pegged to the index rose.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI rose 3.39 points to 1,500.16. The index had previously fallen to a low of 1,489.66.
The health index gained 1.12% or 42.63 points to 3,482.80.
Among the winners, Hartalega Holdings Bhd rose 72 sen to RM16.98, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd rose 42 sen to RM13.92, Supermax Corp Bhd added 30 sen to RM8.72 and Top Glove Corp Bhd rose 18 sen to RM8.61.
Other winners were UWC Bhd, G3 Global Bhd, Comfort Gloves Bhd, Scientex Bhd, Careplus Group Bhd and Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd.
Actively traded stocks include XOX Bhd, Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd, Iris Corp Bhd, Kanger International Bhd, MMAG Holdings Bhd, HLT Global Bhd, Careplus, and Fintec Global Bhd.
Those that declined were Nestlé (M) Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Time dotCom Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Public Bank Bhd and Pharmaniaga Bhd.
Losers outnumbered winners by 337 to 273, while 654 meters traded unchanged. The trading volume was 2.64 billion shares valued at RM1.73 billion.
Reuters said US stock futures fell on Friday after President Donald Trump said he and his wife will be quarantined after a close associate tested positive for the coronavirus.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.39% in Asian trading after the news, extending previous losses, while Treasury yields were largely unchanged, it said.
Hong Leong IB Research said that the bulls tried to push the KLCI above the resistance of 1,523 (downtrend line from 1,618) in recent days, but the buying momentum could not be sustained due to concerns about a liquidity squeeze at the stock market after the six month grace period for loan repayments, along with the increase in coronavirus cases and clusters locally and the reintroduction of more MCOs will slow the incipient economic recovery underway (the World Bank had downgraded Malaysia’s GDP 2020 to -4.9% from -3.1% before).
“However, the recent announcement of the Kita Prihatin package of RM10 billion and the expectation of further stimulus measures in the 2021 Budget (on November 6) may cushion the short-term downsides.
“The main supports are set at 1,488-1,474-1,461 zones,” he said.
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