KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 26): The main index at Bursa Malaysia crossed the 1,600-point threshold at the midday break Thursday, lifted by select blue chips, tracking gains at regional markets.  

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI rose 4.26 points to 1,601.84. The index had earlier slipped to a low of 1,591.11.

Gainers edged losers by 362 to 358, while 754 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was 4.11 billion shares valued at RM1.97 billion.

The gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Khind Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, Unisem (M) Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, Time dotCom Bhd and UWC Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included AT Systematization Bhd, Vivocom International Holdings Bhd, EA Holdings Bhd, KNM Group Bhd and Iris Corp Bhd.

The decliners included Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Vivocom, Euro Holdings Bhd, Adventa Bhd and Lii Hen Industries Bhd.

Reuters said Asian shares advanced on Thursday as markets' euphoric mood over Covid-19 vaccines and the prospects of more political predictability and economic stimulus under the incoming Biden administration overrode a slate of weak US economic data.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3% while Japan's Nikkei gained 0.6%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said despite a 19.2-point rebound to 1,597.6, the near-term odds would still favour more profit-taking consolidation (supports: 1,555-1,579; resistances: 1,600-1,618) to neutralise KLCI’s excessive overbought momentum, with major concerns over the Budget 2021 approval today and CMCO 2.0 repercussion to the economy amid elevated Covid-19 cases and clusters.

“Key supports are pegged at 1,555-1,535 levels,” it said.