KL shares traded mixed in early session

Shares on Bursa Malaysia were traded mixed in the early session today on continued selling pressure despite the overnight
gains on Wall Street, dealers said.

Fifty-five minutes into the opening, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.65 points lower at 1,793. It had opened at 1,792.38.

Gainers led losers 233 to 152, with 224 counters unchanged, 991 untraded and 16 suspended.

Turnover was mild with 254.1 million shares worth RM162.33 million traded.

Key barometers on Wall Street were up between 0.7 per cent and 1.2 per cent, driven primarily by better job market report, HwangDBS Vickers Research said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 16,000 for the first time to reach new record levels.

The positive external vibes should bring cheer to the local market, the research house said in a note, adding that the benchmark FBM KLCI could rise to overcome the psychological barrier of 1,800.

Meanwhile, the Finance Index fell 14.57 points to 16,391.42, the Plantation Index rose 28.4 points to 8844.75 and the Industrial Index was 2.2 points lower at 3,123.82.

The FBM Emas Index declined 1.561 points to 12,488.06, the FBMT100 Index slid 3.84 points to 12,215.17, the FBM Ace rose 25.44 points to 5,639.82 and the FBM 70 rose 26.02 points to 14,273.01.

Among actives, China Stationery lost half sen to 19.5 sen, Sumatec Resources gained 1.5 sen to 28 sen and Malaysia Airlines gained half sen to 31.5 sen.

As for heavyweights, Maybank rose two sen to RM9.57, Sime Darby fell two sen to RM9.53 and Axiata lost three sen to RM6.67.