KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 24): The main index at Bursa Malaysia pared some of its gains at mid-morning Wednesday, as index-linked glovemakers remained under pressure.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI was up 11.65 points to 1,576.7. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,581.55.

Losers overtook gainers by 505 to 414, while 401 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was 3.87 billion shares valued at RM1.45 billion.

The gainers included Euro Holdings Bhd, Seni Jaya Corp Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Time dotCom Bhd and Nestle (M) Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included XOX Bhd, Metronic Global Bhd, Industronics Bhd and Key Alliance Group Bhd.

The decliners included Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, Pharmaniaga Bhd and ViTrox Corp Bhd.

Reuters said Asian equities opened lower on Wednesday on concerns about rising interest rates and rich equity valuations and following a downdraft in US and European overnight trading.

The Dow and S&P 500 recouped early losses after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell reiterated in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee that monetary policy would remain accommodative and would not change without advance warning, it said.

Inter-Pacific Research Sdn Bhd said despite making some headway in the early session, stocks turned mixed later in the day with the key index ending the day in the red once again as the selling among index-linked stocks continued.

In its daily bulletin today, the research house said heavyweight glovemaker stocks remained pressured due to the pick-up in the pace of the global Covid-19 vaccination programme, nullifying the gains on gaming giants Genting Bhd and Genting Malaysia Bhd as their operations resumed.

Although traded volumes slipped, it remained above the 10 billion mark for the day, it said.

Looking ahead, the research house said conditions still appear unsettled following the key index’s inability to keep its intraday gains of late due to the quick and persistent late profit-taking activities that are also leaving sentiments on the cautious side.

Inter-Pacific said the ongoing results reporting season is also not helping with few outperforming reported results.

“Consequently, we see the FBM KLCI continuing to drift with the downside bias still prevalent, sustaining the listless market condition for the foreseeable future.

“However, we also think that there could be some mild buying that could help to cushion against steeper market falls as we think the recent low of 1,560 should provide some measure of support.

“Below that, the other support is at the psychological 1,550 level. On the other hand, the hurdles are at the 1,570-1,580 levels for the time being,” it said.