KL Shares Down Only 0.24 Points.

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended mixed yesterday amid sustained buying interest in select heavyweights, said dealers. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) was down 0.24 points to close at 913.46, dragged down by losses mostly in Bumiputra-Commerce. It opened 2.01 points higher at 915.71.

"Short-term investors continue to accumulate shares on weakness in the hope of a pre-Chinese New Year rally," a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires. "For this reason, the index may continue to trade within 900-936 (recent peak) in the immediate term but with upside bias," the dealer added.

The Industrial Index went up 2.59 points to 2,128.27, the Finance Index declined 48.16 points to 7,244.73 while the Plantation Index dropped 5.42 points to 4,422.91.

The FBMEmas added 0.63 points to 5,986.92, the FBM30 decreased 11.77 points to 5,885.13, the FBMMesdaq fell 9.69 points to 3,307.77 and the FBM2BRD moved up 25.98 points to 4,013.38.

Gainers led losers by 239 to 228 while 214 counters were unchanged, 570 untraded and 29 others suspended.Volume narrowed to 453.953 million shares worth RM653.787 million compared to 515.752 million shares valued at RM760.197 million. An analyst said plantation counters continued to attract strong interest, with most buying activities initiated by local funds.

He said the market trend today would be similar to yesterday's and it is likely to be attracted to counters considered as government-linked companies. "The KLCI is expected to move range-bound until the end of the week, with the level between 900 and 950 amid cautiousness in a gloomy global economic environment," he added. For the actives, KNM dropped half sen to 48.5 sen, UEM Land rose 9.5 sen at 83 sen, Tebrau increased 1.5 sen to 53 sen and MRCB added four sen to 87 sen.

Among the heavyweights, Sime Darby rose five sen to RM5.50, Tenaga Nasional dropped five sen to RM6.40, Maybank was unchanged at RM5.60 and Bumiputra-Commerce was down 25 sen to RM6.75. On Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, KLCI futures ended lower yesterday on lack of fresh leads, dealers said.

Spot month January 2009 dropped 7 points to 907, February 2009 declined 8.5 points to 903.5, March 2009 fell 0.6 points to 902.5 and June 2009 was 7.5 points lower at 885.5. Turnover rose to 5,279 lots from 5,503 lots while open interests increased to 22,787 contracts from 22,955 contracts previously. - AFP, Bernama

Article from Business Times.com