Key stock markets in the region, including our local bourse, traded on a somewhat mixed note Tuesday. Investors turned a little more cautious after an almost uninterrupted upward climb over the past two months. Share prices did open on a firmer footing on the back of Wall Street's strong overnight gains. However, some profit taking emerged as the day progressed. Nevertheless, overall sentiment remained firm and the selling pressure was well absorbed. It would appear that investors are not yet ready to call on the two-month old rally.Investor confidence has been bolstered by a series of better than expected economic data in recent days. The latest upbeat numbers on US construction spending and pending sales of existing homes served to further fuel hopes that the worst of the recession is behind us. Monday night's gains lifted the broad-based Standard & Poor's 500 index into the positive territory for 2009. This is a significant reversal from barely two months ago when the index hit a 12-year low.
Investors have, by and large, shrugged off the bad news to focus on the promise of a recovery later in the year. Hence, barring some major negative developments, share prices appear likely to remain on the uptrend in the near term. On the other hand, having advanced this far within a relatively short period of time, investors may need more convincing data to chase prices much higher.
The KL Composite Index opened on a positive note, rising as high as 1,021.6 points, before succumbing to some selling pressure. The benchmark dipped into the red towards mid-day but recovered to close almost unchanged at 1,008.9 points points.Similarly, market breadth also started in positive territory. It deteriorated as the day progressed, but managed to close on the positive. Trading volume was robust with nearly 1.9 billion shares changing hands. KNM was, again, the most actively traded stock for the day.
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