Mixed trading on Bursa

Sentiment for equities in the region stayed on the positive footing on Wednesday, April 21. Investors appeared to have shrugged off concerns over legal troubles surrounding US investment bank, Goldman Sachs, which triggered a sell off Monday, and are slowly getting back into the fray.

Asian stocks traded broadly higher with most bellwether indices closing with gains for the day. Confidence was bolstered by the higher close for the closely watched Dow Jones Industrial Average overnight. 1Q2010 corporate earnings results in the US have been, by and large, positive, underpinning hopes that the recovery remains on track.

On the home front, shares on the Bursa Malaysia traded mixed. The FBM KLCI opened higher but dipped into the red on the back of profit taking activities after the break. The benchmark index closed just about two points lower at 1,333.6.

Market breadth also deteriorated somewhat as the day progressed. Nevertheless, gainers retained by the upper hand at the close outnumbering losers by a ratio of roughly seven to five. Some of the more actively traded gainers were Tan Chong Motors, JCY International, Gamuda and Adventa. At the other end, BAT, CIMB, Tenaga Nasional and Tanjong plc were among the bigger losers for the day.

Trading volume improved to over 875 million shares, up from the 797 million shares traded in the previous day. KNM was the most heavily traded counter. Other actives include PERISAI PETROLEUM TEKNOLOGI [], Privasia TECHNOLOGY [], Scomi, Affin-WC, Scomi-WA and JCY International.

Shares on the local bourse will likely continue to take cues from the US and regional markets. However, barring any major negative developments, we believe sentiment will stay relatively firm.

In other developments, crude oil futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange inched higher to about US$84.50 per barrel. Oil prices have strengthened over the past few months as investor confidence in the global economic recovery gained traction.