Market shows signs of further consolidation

KUALA LUMPUR: The market showed signs of further consolidation in early trade on Monday, March 22, with blue chips extending their declines, as the FBM KLCI was unable to retest the crucial 1,300 level.

At 9.56am, the FBM KLCI was down 1.5 points to 1,295.1. Turnover was 73.59 million shares valued at RM85 million. There were 121 gainers, 206 losers and 155 stocks unchanged.

Hwang DBS Vickers Research said with no visible buying catalysts in sight - key U.S. bellwethers were down between 0.3% and 0.7% at the closing bell on Friday - it expects share prices on Bursa to continue to drift downward for the time being.

"Nevertheless, we reckon the immediate downside risk for the benchmark FBM KLCI could be cushioned by its first support line of 1,280. This represents a mark down of 4.1% below the key market barometer's March 11 peak of 1,334.34," it said.

Hwang DBS Vickers Research said amidst the ongoing consolidation activity, IJM Corporation shares may attract a bit more interest. The CONSTRUCTION [] group has formally won a contract worth RM600 million to design and construct a highway extension in Sungei Besi over a period of 36 months.

Public Bank fell eight sen to RM11.56 while HLFG shed sin sen to RM7.88.

Among companies involved in the semiconductor equipment industry, Eng Tek lost seven sen to RM2.68 with 136,000 shares on profit taking while Globetronics eased four sen to RM1.22.

Port operator NCB was the top gainer, adding 16 sen to RM3.66 while CI Holdings added 14 sen to RM2.04 after a recent upgrade in its earnings outlook. Measat extended its gains, rising nine sen to RM2.85.