KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia saw lacklustre trading with thin volumes, bucking US stocks robust performance.
At 9.28am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 1.68 points or 0.10 per cent to 1,638.22 against Monday's close of 1,636.54.The benchmark index had opened 2.02 points higher at 1,638.56.
The broader market was negative with losers outnumbering gainers 234 to 194 while 339 counters remained unchanged. Market volume was at 373.2 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed broadly higher as both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P 500 charted record highs.This was ahead of the latest batch of corporate results, ignoring the higher US 10-year yield which touched 4.096 per cent.
In Hong Kong, Thong noted that the Hang Seng Index (HSI) declined but off day's low to remain above the 21,000 as traders were disappointed over China's latest fiscal policy to strengthen the local property market and more measures to fund the economy attributed to lack of details.
On the local front, he said the FBM KLCI managed to close positively yesterday amid another lacklustre session as sentiment stayed cautious.
"Daily volume traded was disappointing at just above the 2 billion shares level as retail investors were mostly sidelined. "Taking cue from the robust US stocks' performance overnight, we expect the benchmark index to hover within the 1,635 to 1,645 range today," Thong added.