Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed flat on June 26, reversing early morning gains spurred by an overnight rally on Wall Street. Most markets in the region also traded relatively flat as well.
The major indices on Wall Street had rallied 2.1% on Thursday, as sentiment was boosted by strong demand for the US Treasury's US$27 billion 7-year note auction, which sent bond yields lower. This helped to offset the impact from weaker than expected employment data. The contraction in first quarter US GDP was also revised upwards from 5.7% to 5.5%.
Demand for treasury notes is now keenly watched as a sign of appetite of investors to fund the US’ stimulus programmes. Rising bond yields had troubled equity markets in the last month, derailing the three-month long rally. Investors were increasingly worried about the prospect of future inflation and how central banks will eventually withdraw the excess liquidity created.
On June 24, the Federal Reserve had opted to keep US interest rates unchanged, near zero, but did not address the prospects of future inflation or interest rate increases.
The KLCI rose eight points in the morning, but ended just 1.7 points up at 1,075.8. Market breadth was mixed with advancing stocks edging our declining ones by a very slim margin. Trading volume totaled 1.2 billion shares.
The relatively flat performance on Friday came after two days of very strong gains – where the KLCI rose a total of 29 points on Wednesday and Thursday alone. Thus, some investors could have opted to lock in their gains ahead of the weekend. For the week, the benchmark index gained a total of 16.3 points or 1.5%.
The most actively traded stocks on Friday include KNM, Hua An, Tebrau, UEM Land, LCL and Jaks. Major gainers include Measat, DiGi and Tanjong plc. Losers include BAT, Shell and Maybank.
Bargain hunting has increased in recent days and the KLCI appears to find support above the 1,050 mark. However, sentiment is still generally cautious.
Investors are unsure whether the intermittent rallies are just technical in nature during a correction phase, or if they are related to the mid-year book closing exercise. New leads are needed and expectations are much higher now after the rally.
The major indices on Wall Street had rallied 2.1% on Thursday, as sentiment was boosted by strong demand for the US Treasury's US$27 billion 7-year note auction, which sent bond yields lower. This helped to offset the impact from weaker than expected employment data. The contraction in first quarter US GDP was also revised upwards from 5.7% to 5.5%.
Demand for treasury notes is now keenly watched as a sign of appetite of investors to fund the US’ stimulus programmes. Rising bond yields had troubled equity markets in the last month, derailing the three-month long rally. Investors were increasingly worried about the prospect of future inflation and how central banks will eventually withdraw the excess liquidity created.
On June 24, the Federal Reserve had opted to keep US interest rates unchanged, near zero, but did not address the prospects of future inflation or interest rate increases.
The KLCI rose eight points in the morning, but ended just 1.7 points up at 1,075.8. Market breadth was mixed with advancing stocks edging our declining ones by a very slim margin. Trading volume totaled 1.2 billion shares.
The relatively flat performance on Friday came after two days of very strong gains – where the KLCI rose a total of 29 points on Wednesday and Thursday alone. Thus, some investors could have opted to lock in their gains ahead of the weekend. For the week, the benchmark index gained a total of 16.3 points or 1.5%.
The most actively traded stocks on Friday include KNM, Hua An, Tebrau, UEM Land, LCL and Jaks. Major gainers include Measat, DiGi and Tanjong plc. Losers include BAT, Shell and Maybank.
Bargain hunting has increased in recent days and the KLCI appears to find support above the 1,050 mark. However, sentiment is still generally cautious.
Investors are unsure whether the intermittent rallies are just technical in nature during a correction phase, or if they are related to the mid-year book closing exercise. New leads are needed and expectations are much higher now after the rally.