KUALA LUMPUR (June 21): The FBM KLCI extended its gains on Thursday while Asian markets were mostly mixed and drew little impetus from a modest extension of U.S. stimulus measures from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
At 9am, the FBM KLCI was up 2.21 points to 1,606.60.
Gainers led losers by 68 to 23, whiel 84 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 12.44 million shares valued at RM7.55 million.
Asian stocks struggled and commodities fell broadly on Thursday after the Federal Reserve ramped up monetary stimulus by expanding "Operation Twist", but disappointed some investors who had been hoping for more aggressive measures, according to Reuters.
The U.S. central bank, as expected, extended its programme of selling short-term securities and buying longer-dated ones, a move aimed at driving down borrowing costs, but did not signal a third round of quantitative easing, it said.
The FBM KLCI on Wednesday had tested and just kept shy of its all-time record high of 1,609.33 it had hit on April 3.
Meanwhile, China's June HSBC flash PMI, the earliest indicator of manufacturing activity in the world's second-largest economy, is due later on Thursday and could influence the direction of the market later in the day.
Among the early gainers on Bursa Malaysia were Nestle, Petronas Dagangan, Glenealy, Aeon Credit, Allianz, Sime Darby and MISC.
