Profit-taking drags FBM KLCI into the red at midday
KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI turned lower at midday, reversing recent gains as profit-taking activity emerged following yesterday's strong run-up.
At lunch break, the benchmark FBM KLCI fell 3.55 points, or 0.22%, to 1,578.84, rebounding from an intramorning low of 1,573.44.
There were 489 gainers, 401 losers and 470 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 2.43 billion shares valued at RM1.42bil.
The top loser on Bursa Malaysia was United Plantations, which lost 48 sen to RM22.50. Carlsberg fell 28 sen to RM19.20, Nestle eased 24 sen to RM84.76 and PETRONAS Dagangan declined 20 sen to RM20.28.
Among the gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries rose 34 sen to RM21.32, SAM Engineering added 32 sen to RM4.42, DKSH gained 27 sen to RM5.26 and Hengyuan climbed 26 sen to RM1.90.
TA Securities said stocks are likely to extend gains as the improvement in US-China trade relations has abated concerns of a global trade war and is expected to support risk-on sentiment in the near term.
'Immediate support has been revised higher to 1,526, representing the 50% Fibonacci retracement (FR) of the rally from the 1,369 low (June 2023) to the 1,684 peak (August 2024), with stronger support seen at the 38.2% FR (1,490) and 23.6% FR (1,444).
'Immediate resistance is also revised upwards to the 76.4% FR (1,610) with tougher upside hurdles at 1,644 and the 29/08/24 high of 1,684,' TA said.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities expects further upside in Malaysia's technology sector, following the rally on Wall Street and renewed optimism after the US-China tariff truce.
The research house said sentiment was also lifted by news that the Trump administration has formally rescinded the Biden-era AI Diffusion Rule, which supported gains in local tech counters.
On the flip side, Malacca Securities said the US-China trade deal is seen as negative for Malaysian glove players, as it makes Chinese gloves more competitively priced and may hurt demand for Malaysian gloves.
'Besides, we believe trading opportunities will extend within the Steel sector like Hiap Teck, Hiap Teck and Malaysia Steel Works, as Malaysia is set to impose anti-dumping duties on steel and tinplate from China and other Asian nations,' it said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
10 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
China says it will speed up rare earths exports to EU firms
China suspended exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets last month. (EPA Images pic) SHANGHAI : China is willing to accelerate the examination and approval of rare earth exports to European Union firms and will also deliver a verdict on its trade investigation of EU brandy imports by July 5, its commerce ministry said today. Price commitment consultations between China and the EU on Chinese-made electric vehicles exported to the EU have also entered a final stage but efforts from both sides are still needed, according to a statement on the Chinese commerce ministry's website. The issues were discussed between Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao and EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic in Paris on Tuesday, according to the statement. The comments mark progress on matters that have vexed China's relationship with the European Union over the past year. Most recently, China's decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets has upended the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. The ministry said China attached great importance to the EU's concerns and 'was willing to establish a green channel for qualified applications to speed up the approval process'. Commerce minister Wang during the meeting 'expressed the hope that the EU will meet us halfway and take effective measures to facilitate, safeguard and promote compliant trade in high-tech products to China', according to the statement. Chinese anti-dumping measures that applied duties of up to 39% on imports of European brandy – with French cognac bearing the brunt – have also strained relations between Paris and Beijing. The brandy duties were enforced days after the European Union took action against Chinese-made electric vehicle imports to shield its local industry, prompting France's President Emmanuel Macron to accuse Beijing of 'pure retaliation'. The Chinese duties have dented sales of brands including LVMH's Hennessy, Pernod Ricard's Martell and Remy Cointreau. Beijing was initially meant to make a final decision on the brandy duties by January, but extended the deadline to April and then again to July 5. China's commerce ministry said today that French companies and relevant associations had proactively submitted applications on price commitments for brandy to China and that Chinese investigators had reached an agreement with them on the core terms. Chinese authorities were now reviewing the complete text on those commitments and would issue a final announcement before July 5, it said. In April, the European Commission said the EU and China had also agreed to look into setting minimum prices of Chinese-made electric vehicles instead of tariffs imposed by the EU last year. China's commerce ministry said the EU had also proposed exploring 'new technical paths' relating to EVs, which the Chinese side was now evaluating.
The Sun
11 hours ago
- The Sun
Senior Taiwan official visits site of new Alaska LNG project
TAIPEI: A senior Taiwanese official said on Saturday he had this week visited the site of a potentially enormous new liquified natural gas (LNG) project in Alaska that the Trump administration has been pushing hard to allies in Asia as a supply option. Energy developer Glenfarne had said on Tuesday that 50 firms had formally expressed interest in contracts worth more than $115 billion from its Alaska LNG project, a massive infrastructure deal championed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Writing on his Facebook page, Pan Men-an, secretary-general to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, said he had attended an energy conference in Alaska at the invitation of U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and visited the state's North Slope. Phase One of the project is expected to deliver natural gas about 1,230 km (765 miles) from the North Slope to the Anchorage region. 'Despite the freezing temperatures, we talked enthusiastically about building resilience and responsibility as democratic partners in the face of global climate change and the challenges of authoritarianism,' Pan wrote. 'In the face of trade challenges and international turbulence, we have no choice but to rise to the occasion,' he said, without mentioning whether he had signed any deals while there. The presidential office said late on Friday that Pan had been accompanied by Fang Jeng-zen, chairman of Taiwan's state-owned energy company CPC. CPC in March signed a non-binding agreement to buy LNG and invest in the project, a move Taiwan's president has said would ensure the island's energy security. If built, the Alaska LNG project will export up to 20 million metric tons of the superchilled gas a year. It would open direct access for U.S.-made LNG to Asian markets without having to go through the Panama Canal or around the Horn of Africa, reducing transit time and costs. Taiwan has pledged to massively ramp up its purchases from the United States, including energy, to reduce a yawning trade surplus that has angered Washington.
The Star
11 hours ago
- The Star
Hong Kong's still ‘over' but Stephen Roach says city a surprise trade war winner
American economist Stephen Roach has said that Hong Kong has benefited from the US-China trade war despite last year having declared the city to be 'over', even as he claimed that other aspects of the financial hub had worsened. The former Morgan Stanley Asia chairman sparked debate last year after he penned an opinion piece which argued, in part, that Hong Kong would be caught in the 'crossfire' of the worsening US-China rivalry. 'The word caught is the word that, if I had to write the piece again, I would probably change, because I think, ironically, Hong Kong has benefited from the crossfire between the US and China,' he told the Post in a recent interview. Despite worsening ties between the two superpowers since US President Donald Trump began levying his so-called reciprocal tariffs on China and the rest of the world, Hong Kong's stock market has seen solid gains. The benchmark Hang Seng Index is up by around 50 per cent since Roach made his original claim, while Hong Kong has rocketed to the top of the global fundraising table following a string of high-profile initial public offerings last month, including from mainland Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology. Roach, who is now a faculty member at Yale University, said the 'sell America' trade had become a 'global mantra' and Hong Kong was a beneficiary. But asked whether he felt his initial assessment of the city being 'over' was premature, he noted he would say the same again. 'No economy or city state is over ... but this image of a dynamic, powerful system as part of the 'one country, two systems' model, I think that's just as close to being over today as it was when I originally wrote the piece,' he said, referring to the city's governing principle. 'The governance story is still, I think, very much working against this notion of Hong Kong as a free, independent, autonomous city state. If anything, it's gotten worse.' Roach added that the strong performance of the city's stock market had 'instilled sort of a new swagger in Hong Kong bordering on denial'. He said there were 'questions that could be raised' about the city's independent rule of law, pointing to the departure of foreign non-permanent judges. He also raised concerns about the fast-tracking of the domestic national security law last year and what he described as continuing efforts to 'quash dissent'. While the Hong Kong government had 'risen to the challenge' to demonstrate to the world that the city should be considered 'special', American investors in particular had developed an 'unwillingness' to distinguish it from the rest of China, he said. 'Where I've come out, reluctantly, is that as great a city as Hong Kong is, it's just another big Chinese city,' he said. 'I think it's increasingly a one country, one system model with a solid financial capital raising infrastructure embedded in Hong Kong.' Executive Council convenor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, who previously hit back at Roach over his 'Hong Kong is over' remarks, maintained that the American economist did not understand the city. She said the 'pessimistic views' Roach expressed last year 'were primarily based on the Hong Kong stock market's poor performance'. 'He overlooked China's strength in technological innovations and Hong Kong's unique advantages based on its separate systems. We are the only part of China that can invest, manage and provide trading platforms for digital assets.' She cited the city's recently passed law on stablecoins, which she said would help Hong Kong be the country's 'testing ground' for cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency token that maintain a fixed value by being pegged to a reference asset, typically fiat currencies such as the US dollar. The law, which was passed last month and is set to take effect later this year, establishes a regulatory regime for stablecoins, paving the way for issuers to obtain licences and sell the digital assets to the public. 'Despite ongoing US-China tensions, Hong Kong will continue to have an important role to play in building bridges between China and the West,' Ip said. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
