KUALA LUMPUR: Stocks were slightly higher in early trade on Monday on some mild buying interest in stocks like KL Kepong, WCT and Muhibbah but the general mood was still cautious.
At 9.30am, the KL Composite Index was up 1.71 points to 895.66. Turnover was 125.13 million shares valued at RM117.75. There were 151 gainers, 54 losers and 112 counters unchanged.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 4.98% or 427.77 points to 9,010.77, Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.04% to 1,864.21 while Shanghai’s A Share Index opened 2.27% higher at 1,877.73.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.19% to 1,136.65. Fitch Ratings had lowered the country’s rating outlook to “Negative” from “Stable” on concerns that the de-leveraging of the banking system might contribute to an erosion of the sovereign's external credit strengths.
On Sunday, China unveiled a US$586bil stimulus package to prevent the world's fourth-largest economy against the global financial crisis.
The Chinese government approved a plan to invest the money in infrastructure and social welfare by the end of 2010.
Oil prices jumped US$2.96 to US$64 while the ringgit was quoted at RM3.5345 to the US dollar as at 9.30am.
HwangDBS Vickers Research said it expected the KLCI to swing sideways with a modest upward bias.
It expected the KLCI to recover further, extending its cumulative gain of 92.7 points or 11.6% from a recent trough of 801.27, while wobbling to search for a stable footing simultaneously.
“This is not to say that there is no more tangible downside risk on our local bourse – as our medium-term bearish stance remains – though trading-oriented investors may be in the mood to take the risk for potential short-term gains,” it said.
The return of trading activity in speculative penny stocks, assuming it persisted, would hold up the overall market volume ahead, it added.
KLK rose 15 sen to RM8.35 while WCT added 13 sen to RM1.84, Parkson 12 sen to RM3.56 while Muhibbah added nine sen to RM1.15.
Genting added six sen to RM4.56, Sime Darby and Bursa five sen higher to RM6.25 and RM5.80.
IOI Corp rose four sen to RM3.16 in active trade, MRCB added three sen to 85.5 sen while KNM added 1.5 sen to 67 sen.
TMI was among the losers, down 14 sen to RM4.54 while Tanjong and Maybank fell 10 sen each to RM12.50 and RM5.55 respectively. BCHB lost five sen to RM6.10 and TM fours en to RM3.30.
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