Malaysia Hot Stocks-Market seen rangebound, planters in focus

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Malaysian shares are
likely to make little headway in thin trade on Thursday, but
plantation stocks should shine after palm-oil prices hit a new
record high, a dealer and an analyst said.

Planters such as Sime Darby (SIME.KL), IOI Corp (IOIB.KL),
KL Kepong (KLKK.KL) and Asiatic Development ASIA.KL are
expected to rise after palm-oil prices hit a high of 3,087
ringgit ($925) a tonne on Wednesday, said a dealer with a
foreign brokerage.

Malaysia is one of the world's largest producers of crude
palm oil. The stock market's plantation index .KLPL has
gained 81 percent this year.

The broader market was expected to be rangebound with many
investors away for the year-end holidays.

"But there could be a bit of window dressing on key stocks
and this would provide some stability to the market," said the
research chief with a local bank.

"I expect the market to be flat to marginally up."

The dealer pegged support for the main share index at 1,410
points.

On Wednesday, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index .KLSE
inched up 0.1 percent to end at 1,424.02.
The December futures contract KLIZ7 and the January contract
KLIF8 both put the index at 1,424.5.

U.S. stocks were little changed on Wednesday after Target
Inc (TGT.N) cut its sales forecast and hurt retail shares,
offsetting gains in major energy firms as oil hit a one-month
high.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 0.02 percent
at 13,551.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 0.08
percent to 1,497.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up
0.40 percent to 2,724.41.
(Reporting by Liau Y-Sing, editing by Mark Bendeich)