KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 26): Caution reined on Bursa Malaysia as stocks stayed flat in early trade on Monday.

The benchmark FBM KLCI shed 0.06% or 0.96 points to 1,548.15.

Early decliners included Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, MI Technovation Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment Bhd. Vitrox Corp Bhd, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, RCE Capital Bhd, Wellcall Holdings, Axiata Group Bhd and Sports Toto Bhd.

Actively traded stocks included Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd, Dagang NeXchange Bhd, YTL Corp Bhd, Velesto Energy Bhd and YTL Power International Bhd.

Gainers included Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Malayan Cement Bhd and BIMB Holdings Bhd.

Hong Leong Investment Bank Research said Bursa Malaysia should witness potential profit-taking dip during the peak of the 4Q2023 results season this week and amid caution from recent weakness in the local currency.

In a traders’ brief on Monday, the research house said persistent net inflows by foreign investors (for the fourth consecutive month), supported by an uptick in foreign shareholding to 19.6% in January (versus an all-time low of 19.5% in Dec 23), and year-to-date foreign net inflows which amounted to RM2.31 billion (a reversal from -RM2.6 billion in 2023) may cushion downside risk (support: 1,522-1,533; resistance: 1,570-1,580-1,600).

Reuters said Asian shares were taking a breather near seven-month highs on Monday as investors awaited inflation data from the US, Japan and Europe that will help refine expectations for future rate moves.

The Federal Reserve's favoured measure of inflation — the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index — is due on Thursday and forecasts are for a rise of 0.4%, said Reuters.