Kuala Lumpur, May 30 – Bucking the regional trend, the FBM KLCI ended in negative territory as the investors are waiting for the banking sector’s corporate results, as the results would serve as a canary in the coal mine for forecasting the strength of recovery. Of the major stock markets in Asia, Japan led the pack with Nikkei 225 Index rose slightly more than 2% whilst Hong Kong’s HSI index also closed 2% higher. HSI was propped by biotech and consumer stocks. Investors’ mood was lifted on news that Shanghai authorities will cancel many conditions for businesses to resume work from Wednesday, easing a city-wide lockdown that began two months ago, while part of Beijing is reported to back to work. A significant rebound in the Asian equities is supported by a dive in the US dollar index (DXY). The asset has tumbled to near its monthly lows at 101.45 and more losses are expected from the DXY on the lower forecast of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP). In April, the US economy added 428k jobs. The US economy is expected to report an addition of 310k jobs in the labor force as per consensus.
** The FTSE BM KLCI dropped 3.74 points or -0.24% at 1,543.02 .
** The FTSE BM KLCI opened at 1,540.56. The index fluctuated between 1,540.56 – 1,547.02.
** 412 counters are gainers, 419 counters are unchanged, while 497 counters are losers.
** Total volume of 3,054,409,810 shares changed hands; while Turnover of RM 1,820,869,937.
** The Top 5 Gainers : IHS046000824 (103.30, +0.80) ; MPI (31.66, +0.66) ; DIN045801028 (102.80, +0.50) ; HENGYUAN (6.70, +0.38) ; HARISON (6.10, +0.24)
** The Top 5 Losers : NESTLE (133.10, -1.00) ; PPB (16.62, -0.58) ; BAT (12.22, -0.56) ; AEONCR (14.76, -0.44) ; SP500-HZ (0.65, -0.37)
** The Top 5 Most Active Stocks : G3 (0.055, -0.015) ; GPACKET (0.08, UNCHANGED) ; SAPNRG (0.085, +0.005) ; MNC (0.015, UNCHANGED) ; HSI-HAZ (0.145, -0.065)
** Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) up 13.26 points or +0.41% to 3,243.81 ; Hong Kong’s HSI jumped 426.57 points or +2.06% at 21,123.93 ; Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 587.75 points or +2.19% at 27, 369.43 ; and Korea’s KOSPI rose 31.61 points or +1.20% to 2,669.66 ; Shanghai’s SSE Index up 18.82 points or +0.6% at 3,149.06 ; Australia’s All Ordinaries climbed 109.59 points or +1.48% to 7,522.60.
