Risk appetite improves

KUALA LUMPUR: Investors' risk appetite for equities perked up in early trade on Wednesday, Oct 7 following the second day of gains on Wall Street.

However, spot gold eased, down US$3.29 to US$1,038.81 after hitting a record high of US$1,043.45 per ounce earlier.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI rose 4.19 points to 1,216.92. Turnover was 120.67 million shares valued at RM151.87 million.

Key Asian markets were higher, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opening 1.3% higher at 21,074.98 while Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.89% to 9,778.25 and Singapore's Straits Times Index 1.08% higher at 2,640.14.

Light crude oil rose 55 cents to US$71.43.

Hwang DBS Vickers Research said while the benchmark FBM KLCI slipped by 3.7 points yesterday, its spot month futures contract ended slightly higher to open up a premium of 4.8 points.

"This could signal a positive performance by our Malaysian stock market ahead, with the key bellwether possibly making its way towards the immediate resistance target of 1,230.

"Providing a kick to the underlying sentiment across the region today is the timely rebound of Wall Street, as major U.S. equity indices soared between 1.4% and 1.7% last night in anticipation of better corporate earnings reports," it added.

Hwang DBS Vickers Research said the buoyant external backdrop aside, nothing much is happening on the local scene. The only routine economic data to be released in the evening would be the international reserves as at Sept 30.

BAT was the top gainer, rising 22 sen to RM45.20 while Pacific Mas added 18 sen to RM3.94 and Genting nine sen to RM7.24.

PPB rose 16 sen to RM15.70 and KLK 10 sen higher to RM13.80 after the selldown the previous day. Among glove makers, Supermax rose 13 sen to RM2.83 and Hartalega 11 sen to RM5.40.

Time was the most active counter with 19.29 million shares done, rising 2.5 sen to 31 sen.

Padini fell the most, down eight sen to RM3.02 but with only 2,000 shares done. Tanjong shed four sen to RM15.58 while Global Carriers slipped four sen to 18 sen after announcing a five-into-one capital reduction.