Shares on the Bursa Malaysia drifted in directionless trading Thursday. There was little in terms of fresh developments to spur the market, either way.

There was no major change in market volume from the previous few days. About 765 million shares were traded Thursday. With the local bourse closed for a public holiday Friday, few investors are keen to take up fresh positions. In fact, given the steep rally so far this year, many investors will probably opt to protect their gains rather than risk a correction in the last few weeks of the year. Hence, the current climate of relatively slow trading could persist till the New Year.

Wall Street’s lackluster performance overnight offered few leads for investors. The closely monitored Dow Jones Industrial Average closed in positive territory but off its intra-day high on the back of mixed economic data.

On the positive side, consumer spending and incomes rose in October while initial jobless claims fell to its lowest level since September 2008. On the other hand, demand for durable goods and a barometer of business capital spending dipped. These figures were just the latest in a series of mixed data, suggesting that the economic recovery will be patchy.

Bellwether indices in Asian stock markets traded broadly lower Thursday. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped sharply, dampening sentiment in the region. Financial stocks were hit by concerns banks would have to raise more capital to boost their reserves.  

The FBM KLCI managed to stay in positive territory for the better part of the day but closed just marginally lower at 1,270.6 points. Hai-O, Tanjong plc and Measat Global were some of the notable gainers while Gamuda, Jerneh Asia and WCT were among the bigger losers.

There were about three losing stocks for every two gaining ones at the close. The warrants for Harvest Court was the most heavily traded counter. Other actives include Maxis, Maxis-CA, Gamuda and Mangotone. — InsiderAsia