Market Review

Rebounded but still choppy. Regional markets rebounded yesterday after suffering losses over the past 2 days on concerns over the economic implications arising from the earthquake-tsunami stricken Japan. The FBM KLCI gained over 8 points to close at 1492.50. Today’s major headlines are: i) Top Glove reported a 64% fall in its 2QFY11 net profit from a year ago; ii) TMC Life aims to break even in 2011; and iii) Singpost has ruled out the possibility of buying into Pos Malaysia. Meanwhile, SEGi has also been appointed by the Government to lead the development of the integrated child care education initiative under the NKEA. Trading on the local bourse is expected to remain cautious today, with investors monitoring the situation in Japan carefully, especially given the absence of major leads domestically. Overnight, the US markets took a negative turn on very choppy trading as investors grappled with poor housing data and fears of a nuclear meltdown in Japan.

Technical View

The FBM KLCI fell by about 15 pts at the day-low but started to rebound when it was trading about 6 pts away from the critical 1,474-pt horizontal support line. The index even bounced back with marginal gains during the session but eventually ended the day with a loss of 0.27-pts. We can now analyze the index from a few perspectives. Firstly, we know that last Friday’s sharp 21.29-pt drop wrote off the possibility of the market extending its uptrend after cracking above the downtrend channel. With that, we know that the index is now more likely to trade or consolidate sideways at above the 1,474 pt-level. Another point to note is that yesterday’s market action once again signaled the importance of the 1,474 pt-level as a rather strong rebound as it emerged not far away from this horizontal support floor. Last but not least, we also know that failure to hold up the 1,474 pt-level is expected to cause technical damage. The 1,474 pt-level is a very essential level for the FBM KLCI. Should it be violated decisively, the market could succumb to panic selling pressure. As is portrayed in the above daily chart, including yesterday’s market action, this level has been tested four times and a break below it is expected to cause technical damage to the index’s near-term technical outlook. This breakdown might even eventually lead to a shift in its longer term trend. Anyhow, until the breakdown occurs, we maintain our bullish bias view. Immediate resistance is still seen at the 1,509-1,517-pt “Downside Gap” created last Friday while next resistance is situated at the 1,530 pt-level. To the downside, there is immediate support at the 1,490 pt-level, followed by the critical 1,474 pt-level.

Market View

Surprisingly defensive. The FBM KLCI fell to a low of 1480.53 pts in the morning session, mirroring the negative trend across all regional markets following the catastrophic Japanese earthquake. The market was, however, quick to pare its losses, finishing flat for the day with support seen on some blue chips. Apart from external developments related to Japan, the corporate headlines are thin today, save for Public Bank indicating that it is comfortable in maintaining its dividend payout ratio at 50% in the medium-term, while Fitters inked the Kidzania project in The Curve for RM33m. For today, we expect the underlying sentiment to remain cautious, with extended fears of a meltdown following the third explosion at the Fukushima nuclear plant yesterday.

Dagangan Bursa bercampur-campur

KUALA LUMPUR 14 Mac - Harga saham di Bursa Malaysia ditutup bercampur-campur hari ini seiring dengan pasaran Asia yang lain setelah pelabur menilai kesan sepenuhnya kejadian gempa bumi dan tsunami yang melanda Jepun pada Jumaat.

Pada pukul 5 petang, penanda aras FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) susut 0.27 mata kepada 1,495.35.

Indeks Perladangan naik 53.07 mata kepada 7,664.13 manakala Indeks Perusahaan meningkat 7.73 mata kepada 2,767.27 tetapi Indeks Kewangan turun 20.43 mata kepada 13,526.82.

Indeks Emas FTSE Bursa Malaysia menambah 8.83 mata kepada 10,236.40, Indeks FTSE Bursa Malaysia Ace susut 17.88 mata kepada 4,034.17 dan Indeks FTSE Bursa Malaysia Mid 70 menokok 47.57 mata kepada 10,941.12.

Jumlah dagangan susut kepada 802.362 juta saham bernilai RM1.179 bilion daripada 1.020 bilion saham bernilai RM1.853 bilion pada Jumaat.

Saham rugi mengatasi saham untung pada 352 berbanding 308 manakala 291 kaunter diniagakan tidak berubah, 462 tidak didagangkan dan 26 yang lain digantung.

Saham berkaitan kayu naik dengan jangkaan permintaan bagi komoditi itu akan meningkat untuk pembinaan semula kawasan yang musnah akibat gempa bumi dan tsunami.

Ta Ann menokok lapan sen kepada RM4.84, Jaya Tiasa menambah 16 sen kepada RM5.01 dan WTK Holdings naik tujuh sen kepada RM1.33.

Antara saham aktif, Berjaya Retail meningkat 21.5 sen kepada 64 sen dengan tawaran menjadikan persendirian. Perisai Petroleum Teknologi susut 3.5 sen kepada 64 sen dan SAAG Consolidated kekal pada 9.5 sen.

Bagi saham wajaran tinggi, Maybank kekal pada RM8.71, CIMB Group Holdings susut enam sen kepada RM7.92, Sime Darby naik dua sen kepada RM9.05 dan Petronas Chemicals Group meningkat 19 sen kepada RM6.75.

Jumlah dagangan di Pasaran Utama susut kepada 662.396 juta saham bernilai RM1.157 bilion daripada 841.288 juta saham bernilai RM1.82 bilion.

Waran turun kepada 80.694 juta unit bernilai RM14.669 juta daripada 126.670 juta unit bernilai RM22.82 juta.

Perolehan dagangan di pasaran ACE meningkat kepada 57.784 juta saham bernilai RM6.629 juta daripada 44.47 juta saham bernilai RM6.29 juta. - Bernama

Market Review

Much lower. The FBM KLCI plunged 21.29 points to close at 1,495.62 following the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Berjaya Retail Bhd is being privatised by its major shareholder Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun through his vehicle, Premier Merchandise SB, at RM0.65 in cash per share. P.I.E. Industrial is investing RM50m in 2011 to expand its production capabilities on growing demand for high-end medical, telecommunication, and computer markets while Sime Darby Bhd has signed a share sale and purchase agreement with PT Roro Chasis Sejahtera and PT T Energy (PTTE) for the disposal of its entire 70% equity interest in PTTE. Meanwhile, Bank Negara will increase the statutory reserve requirement to 2% from 1%, effective 1 April 2011. Finally, the US markets ended higher but crude oil price sank USD1.54 to finish at USD101.16/barrel.