Kuala Lumpur shares close little changed ahead of long holidays - UPDATE 11/10/2006
- Share prices closed little changed, with
investors having started to wind down their positions in a market lacking in
fresh leads ahead of the long festive holidays, dealers said.
The KLCI closed up 0.66 of a point at 970.37, off a high of 971.03 in
earlier trade.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30 large-cap index gained 18.32 points to finish
at 6,292.52 , while the second board index eased 0.05 of a point to 84.19.
Gainers outnumbered losers 361 to 329, with 357 stocks unchanged and 268
untraded.
Trading volume was 697.99 mln shares valued at 854.26 mln rgt.
Heavyweight BIMB Holdings supported the market on the back of the company
unit Bank Islam's move to form a strategic partnership with Dubai Investment
Group, but investor interest generated by such move was offset by
profit-taking in Genting following its gains ahead of the submission of its
proposal for Singapore's second casino resort.
Dealers said the market is expected to consolidate tomorrow, with the
benchmark index likely to re-test the 970-point psychological support level
in early trade.
"Trading remains dull and unexciting, with little or no leads to lift
sentiment. Investors just seemed uninterested in the market," a local
brokerage dealer said.
He said follow-through selling in selected blue chips are expected to
continue tomorrow in counters like Genting, IOI Corp, and Tanjong.
But he said trading is expeced to remain generally quiet tomorrow ahead
of Tenaga Nasional's announcement of fiscal year results after the market
closes tomorrow.
"The market is experiencing a dry spell where there are no catalysts,
either positive or negative, to push down or push up the market. There is
just not much excitement in the market at the moment," MIDF Sisma Securities
analyst S. Sharath said.
He said sentiment was dampened by profit-taking in Genting, while
investors stayed sidelined ahead of Tenaga Nasional's full-year results due
for release after the market closes tomorrow.
Given the shift in focus to the upcoming festivities, with Muslims and
Hindus in the country preparing for the Aidil Adha and Deepavali
celebrations, "coupled with a lack of significant leads in the market, it is
no surprise that trading remains lackluster and rangebound," Sharath said.
Sharath said Digi.com's third-quarter results, due out on October 20,
could provide some positive leads for the market. The results are expected to
be in line with market expectations, he added.
TA Securities, in a note to clients, said rangebound trading could
continue in blue chips pending the emergence of positive catalysts.
"The stronger volume and positive market breadth yesterday were mostly
contributed by increased trading interest in speculative penny stocks and
warrants ..." TA said, adding that blue chips remained in a consolidation
mode.
"Hence, the present cautious market undertone should persist, as
indicated by the persistent discount on KLCI futures," TA added.
Among the heavyweights, Resorts World rose 0.40 rgt to 11.80, Telekom
Malaysia dropped 0.05 rgt to 9.00 and Malayan Banking rose 0.20 rgt to 11.30.
Genting fell 0.25 rgt to 26.25 as investors locked in profits following
gains ahead of the submission of its proposal for Singapore's second casino
resort.
BIMB Holdings was up 0.12 rgt or 9.45 pct at 1.39 on company moves for
unit Bank Islam to form a strategic partnership with Dubai Investment Group.
Tenaga Nasional dropped 0.10 rgt to 9.75 on concerns that a potential gas
price hike may weigh on the company's earnings.
Mah Sing Group advanced 0.04 rgt to 3.10 on hopes that the property
firm's planned high-end commercial project may boost its earnings growth.

For tomorrow...market must take a profit taking...

For CPO market...correcion continued to 1500 lever or below...

Regard

Anthony Wong