Bursa starts week higher amid cautious market conditions
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher on Monday, but overall sentiment remained cautious amid weak trading activity and a lack of fresh market catalysts.
The FBM KLCI rose 2.44 points, or 0.16%, to 1,519.23 at 9.19 am, after opening 1.27 points higher at 1,518.06.
Among the gainers, F&N rose 50 sen to RM27.88, Hong Leong Bank added 28 sen to RM19.88, Nestle gained 26 sen to RM77.38 and Malaysian Pacific Industries up 20 sen to RM20.40.
United Plantations fell 10 sen to RM21.54, Sungei Bagan Rubber Company eased five sen to RM6.30, MNRB declined four sen to RM1.92 and BAT gave up four sen to RM5.21.
ACE Market debutant Hartanah Kenyalang Bhd fell 0.5 sen to 15.5 sen, with 13.28 million shares traded.
Inter-Pacific said overall market conditions remain subdued despite a decent rebound over the past week, citing a lack of significant catalysts to stimulate fresh buying interest.
Consequently, the research house expects the FBM KLCI to remain moribund, as sentiment stays largely indifferent amid ongoing global economic challenges that may weigh on Malaysia's economic outlook.
'Amid the thinner market participation as market players await for more convincing impetuses, we see the key index maintaining its drifting trend for now as it also looks to fortify its position above the psychological 1,500 level for now with the interim support located at the 1,510-1,512 levels, followed by 1,507 points.
'The resistances, on the other hand, are at 1,522 and 1,527 points respectively,' Inter-Pacific said.
It added that broader market conditions may start the week mixed to lower, weighed down by the absence of catalysts and weak participation in lower liner stocks.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade noted that trading activity remained subdued, as reflected in the weak daily volume, which fell below the 2.0 billion shares mark.
This was likely due to the recent wave of benchmark index target downgrades for 2025 by the research fraternity.
'As such, we expect the index to hover within the 1,510-1,520 range today,' it said.
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