KUALA LUMPUR: Asian markets traded mixed on Thursday, June 17 after US stocks finished flat on Wednesday after the US government said housing starts fell more than expected in May, underscoring the uneven nature of economic recovery.
The announcement also cast a shadow over better-than-expected industrial production data for the same month. In addition, investors were caught off guard after FedEx Corp, deemed an economic bellwether because it serves a wide range of industries, said higher costs would constrain 2011 earnings, according to Reuters.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones inched up 0.05% to 10,409.46, the S&P 500 Index shed 0.06% to 1,114.61 while the Nasdaq Composite Index added just 0.05 of a point or 0.00% to 2,305.93.
At mid-morning, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.42% to 10,025.02, the South Korean Kospi shed 0.04% to 1,704.66 but the Hong Kong, China and Taiwan markets that reopened after their respective holidays traded higher.
The Hang Seng Index added 0.6% to 20,182.25, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.37% to 2,579.57 while Taiwan's TAIEX Index advanced 0.63% to 7,500.86.
At Bursa Malaysia, the FBM KLCI rose 3.06 points to 1,306.19, lifted by gains including at Maybank, Hong Leong Bank, RHB Capital, Sime Darby and CIMB.
Gainers led losers 140 to 98, while 159 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 104.11 million shares valued at RM89.99 million.
Maybank Investment Bank Bhd head of retail research and chief chartist Lee Cheng Hooi in his daily technical report on Thursday advised local investors to trade on an intra-day basis only and not hold onto stocks for the longer term, adding that swift profit-taking activities could set in.
He said a recent typical market action was that the FBM KLCI traded with a positive (or negative) range of two points.
"Thursday is generally a quiet day on the local bourse historically. Therefore, we expect range trading today.
"On a week on week basis, we may end this week's trading positively - albeit with another narrow rise on Friday," he said.
Among the major gainers at mid-morning, Maybank added four sen to RM7.48, Hong Leong Bank five sen to RM8.38, RHB Capital and Tanjong two sen each to RM5.83 and RM17.38, Sime Darby six sen to RM7.93 while CIMB added one sen to RM6.95.
Other gainers included Dutch Lady, DiGi, Hong Leong Financial Group and Top Glove.
Meanwhile, United Malacca and Hartalega fell six sen each to RM8.55 and RM7.75, Khind and Limahsoon down five sen each to RM1.05 and 16.5 sen, while Hexagon shed 4.5 sen to 63.5 sen.
Talam was the most actively traded counter with 25.1 million shares traded. The stock gained half a sen to 13 sen.
Other actives included Kenmark, Iris, Kumpulan Europlus, CIMB and KKB Engineering.
The announcement also cast a shadow over better-than-expected industrial production data for the same month. In addition, investors were caught off guard after FedEx Corp, deemed an economic bellwether because it serves a wide range of industries, said higher costs would constrain 2011 earnings, according to Reuters.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones inched up 0.05% to 10,409.46, the S&P 500 Index shed 0.06% to 1,114.61 while the Nasdaq Composite Index added just 0.05 of a point or 0.00% to 2,305.93.
At mid-morning, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.42% to 10,025.02, the South Korean Kospi shed 0.04% to 1,704.66 but the Hong Kong, China and Taiwan markets that reopened after their respective holidays traded higher.
The Hang Seng Index added 0.6% to 20,182.25, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.37% to 2,579.57 while Taiwan's TAIEX Index advanced 0.63% to 7,500.86.
At Bursa Malaysia, the FBM KLCI rose 3.06 points to 1,306.19, lifted by gains including at Maybank, Hong Leong Bank, RHB Capital, Sime Darby and CIMB.
Gainers led losers 140 to 98, while 159 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 104.11 million shares valued at RM89.99 million.
Maybank Investment Bank Bhd head of retail research and chief chartist Lee Cheng Hooi in his daily technical report on Thursday advised local investors to trade on an intra-day basis only and not hold onto stocks for the longer term, adding that swift profit-taking activities could set in.
He said a recent typical market action was that the FBM KLCI traded with a positive (or negative) range of two points.
"Thursday is generally a quiet day on the local bourse historically. Therefore, we expect range trading today.
"On a week on week basis, we may end this week's trading positively - albeit with another narrow rise on Friday," he said.
Among the major gainers at mid-morning, Maybank added four sen to RM7.48, Hong Leong Bank five sen to RM8.38, RHB Capital and Tanjong two sen each to RM5.83 and RM17.38, Sime Darby six sen to RM7.93 while CIMB added one sen to RM6.95.
Other gainers included Dutch Lady, DiGi, Hong Leong Financial Group and Top Glove.
Meanwhile, United Malacca and Hartalega fell six sen each to RM8.55 and RM7.75, Khind and Limahsoon down five sen each to RM1.05 and 16.5 sen, while Hexagon shed 4.5 sen to 63.5 sen.
Talam was the most actively traded counter with 25.1 million shares traded. The stock gained half a sen to 13 sen.
Other actives included Kenmark, Iris, Kumpulan Europlus, CIMB and KKB Engineering.
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