KUALA LUMPUR: Investors on Bursa Malaysia held their positions on Friday as the flattish performance on US markets overnight gave little indication on trading direction.<\/p>\n
The local bourse entered profit-taking mode yesterday as investors cashed in on a\u00a0 seven-day winning streak, but remained little moved at Friday’s opening, ahead of Malaysia’s economic report due out at noon.<\/p>\n
Traders snapped up equities over the past two weeks as risk appetite was buoyed by the continuation of US-China trade talks and investors’ surging hopes for a US rate cut after a lower-than-expected inflation report.<\/p>\n
Throwing a spannar in the works, however, was the US producer’s price index for July, which showed a 0.9% increase – above the 0.2% forecast by economists – which pointed to rising inflation.<\/p>\n
As at 9.10am, domestic traders remained uncertain in the absence of trading direction. The FBM KLCI was down 0.45 points to 1,580.6 while the broader market had a nearly even spread of advancers and decliners.<\/p>\n
“The local benchmark index is expected to extend its profit-taking consolidation phase, as market sentiment should remain subdued while investors await crucial domestic and U.S. data releases ahead of the weekend,” said TA Securities in its daily review.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade said in a note that foreign funds remained net sellers of local equities, which serves as a market dampener.<\/p>\n
“For today, we expect the index to hover between the 1,575-1,585 range,” it added.<\/p>\n
In early trading, PETRONAS Chemicals dropped seven sne to RM3.57 while PPB shed seven sen to RM8.94 and IOI fell four sen to RM3.81.<\/p>\n
Nestle gained 26 sen to RM88.06, while PETRONAS Gas rose six sen to RM18.76 and MISC added five sen to RM7.81.<\/p>\n
Leading actives included TWL flat at 2.5 sen, Oxford Innotech up 0.5 sen to 41.5 sen and Oriental Kopi dipping one sen to 97.5 sen.<\/p>\n
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