KUALA LUMPUR (June 4): The FBM KLCI pared some of its gains at the midday break, while some glovemakers staged a slight recovery from their slump in recent days, against the backdrop of firm regional markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 12.20 points to 1,550.73. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,558.48.

Gainers led losers by 417 to 243, while 637 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was a healthy 4.58 billion shares valued at RM3.04 billion.

The gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Rubberex Corp Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Comfort Gloves Bdh, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd.

The actives included AT Systemization Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, JAG Bhd, AirAsia Group Bdh, Careplus Group Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd, HLT Global Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd and Bumi Armada Bhd.

The decliners included Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Box-Pak (M) Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Pentamaster Corp Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Digi.Com Bhd, Cocoaland Holdings Bhd and Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd.

Reuters said Asian shares rose to a two-month high on Thursday as government stimulus expectations supported investor confidence in an economic recovery from the global coronavirus pandemic.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%, earlier touching the highest since March 9,it said.

Kenanga Research said yesterday, Asian stocks ended mostly higher following Wall Street’s overnight lead, as the spotlight remains on the optimism surrounding the reopening of economy from shutdowns.

It said back home, the FBMKLCI rose 30.84 points (+2.05%) to finish at 1,538.53.

“Following the formation of a “Golden Cross”, the index managed to close the gap that was opened during the mid-March market meltdown, which sees it now trading above all of its key-SMAs.

“On the chart, our resistance-turned-support levels are identified at 1,530 (S1) and 1,500 (S2).

“On the upside, our resistance levels are raised to 1,570 (R1) and 1,600 (R2),” it said.

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