KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips staged a mild rebound early Monday after a week-long of losses, underpinned by Petronas Gas and Bursa while crude oil prices climbed.

At 9.41am, the KLCI was up 2.82 points or 0.16% higher at 1,743.47. Turnover was 687.41 million shares valued at RM188.10mil. There were 266 gainers, 192 losers and 281 counters unchanged.

Kenanga Investment Bank Research said the local market has been affected by the foreign selling to end at 1,740.65 last Friday.

“From charting perspective, the index was traded in the negative territory most of the time. Key indicators show no sign of short-term recovery, as most are now in the negative state. 

“The overall technical picture deteriorated after it broke down below the support level of 1,750, indicating the outlook starting to get bearish. 

“Further weakness, if any, support levels can be found at 1,729 (S1) and 1,713 (S2). Conversely, the resistance levels to look out for now are 1,765 (R1) and 1,783 (R2),” said Kenanga Research.

Oil prices rose on Monday over supply concerns in the Middle East and as the US market showed further signs of tightening while demand in Asia keeps rising, Reuters reported.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at US$57.90 at 0131 GMT, up 15 cents, or 0.26%, from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at US$52.13 per barrel, up 29 cents, or 0.56%.

BAT and Petron Malaysia gained 20 sen each to RM42.56 and RM11.44 while  Petronas Gas added  18 sen to RM18.06. 

Bursa Malaysia gained 16 sen to RM9.91, Time dotCom 15 sen to RM9 and Top Glove 14 sen to RM6.73.

KL Kepong fell the most, down 26 sen to RM24.20, Ajinomoto 16 sen to RM19.84, Aeon Credit 10 sen to RM13 and JAKS eight sen to RM1.39 while Comintel Corp lost six sen to 85.5 sen.