KUALA LUMPUR: The local stock market edged up in early Tuesday trade, with chip makers and tech stocks taking the lead again, as investors hoped for a quick resolution to the country’s political situation after the resignation of the Cabinet on Monday.

       At 9.24am, the FBM KLCI was up 9.93 points or 0.66% to 1,512.83. Turnover was 601.07 million shares valued at RM243.22mil. There were 374 gainers, 149 losers and 294 counters unchanged.

       Bloomberg reported Asian stocks were mixed early Tuesday as traders weighed a record-breaking run in the S&P 500 against concerns that the delta virus variant will choke global growth. Treasuries and the dollar held gains.

       Shares rose in Japan but slipped in Australia and South Korea, while U.S. equity futures edged down.

       At Bursa on Monday, foreign funds were net buyers at RM20.8m and retailers at RM97.5m but local funds net sellers at RM118.3m

       On the outlook for the local stock market, Maybank IB Research said the political woes in the country will continue to weigh on market sentiment.

       However, Rrakuten Trade was more optimistic after the KLCI recovered from its low late Monday as bargain hunting activities emerged.

       "It is also interesting to note that foreign funds were net buyers despite the uncertainty on the political front. For today, we would expect trading on

       the local bourse to stabilise and see the index to hover within the 1,500-1,510 range," it said.

       MPI rose 44 sen to RM43.96, Genetec 22 sen to RM26.90, Vitrox 20 sen to RM19.18, SAM Engineering 18 sen to RM13.88, Widetec and Kobay 13 sen each to RM3.91 and RM5.22.

       Nestle was the top gainer, up 50 sen to RM133.80 and Heineken 22 sen to RM22.60.

       Fintec was the most active, unchanged at 2.5 sen while Tanco added one sen to 22.5 sen.

       Pintaras fell eight sen to RM2.45, Kossan six sen lower at RM3.13, CCB and QL five sen each to RM2.34 and RM5.58 while Takaful shed five sen to RM4.20 and BIMB four sen to RM3.76.