Malaysian equities may consolidate (BT)

MALAYSIAN shares may open lower today following Wall Street’s weaker performance.

“I think the market will consolidate a bit, there may be some profit-taking since the market is overbought,” said an institutional dealer from a bank-backed brokerage.

“From a technical point of view, the support level for the benchmark index should be around 998 points to 1,026 points, as for resistance, we are looking at between 1,037 points and 1,064 points,” she said.

Malaysia’s benchmark stock index closed 1.28 points lower at 1,025.50 points yesterday.

US stocks fell yesterday as investors booked profits in financials after a two-month run-up and news of several banks’ share offerings heightened worries about their dilutive impact on current shareholders.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 155.88 points (1.82 per cent) to close at 8,418.77 after the market chalked up gains in eight of the past nine weeks.

The Nasdaq composite slipped 7.76 points (0.45 per cent) to 1,731.24 while the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 19.99 points (2.15 per cent) to 909.24. - Reuters