KLCI up on late bargain hunting

Stocks started the first trading day for the second half of the year on a somewhat tentative note. Although most of the regional bellwether indices closed in positive territory, gains were not very convincing. Indeed, the strong upward momentum that drove share prices sharply higher for the better part of 2Q09 has been absent for a while now. And the prevailing sentiment may persist over the near term. Asian stock markets have already done very well in the year to date, chalking up strong double-digit gains. The Chinese market has been among the best performers in the world – the Shanghai Composite index gained nearly 63% in 1H09. Most believe that the world’s third largest economy will recover faster from the current downturn on the back of strong domestic consumption and massive government stimulus package.
The KL Composite Index was up by a more “modest” 22.6% in 1H09. Our economy is more dependent on external trade. Although the worst appears over, a recovery in exports is likely to be slow given that demand from major consuming countries like the US and Europe remains weak.
Indeed, recent data on US consumer confidence indicated some renewed weakness after rebounding strongly in previous months. With unemployment expected to continue rising, consumers are less likely to go on a spending spree. Households are still trying to de-leverage and are saving more to repair their balance sheets.

The KLCI had on July 1 fluctuated within a narrow band throughout the day, slipping in and out of positive territory. A last-minute spurt of buying lifted the benchmark index to close at its intra-day high of 1,079.4 points, up four points from June 30. Some of the bigger gainers include Tanjong plc, Nestle, BAT and Genting.

Market breadth was, however, negative. There were roughly seven losing stocks for every four gaining ones at the close. About 826 million shares were traded. KNM was the day’s most actively traded stock.