KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia regained its upside momentum to end higher today after three consecutive days of losses, as investors priced in the possibility of an interest rate cut in the US, which will draw more inflows into emerging markets, including Malaysia.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) finished 0.56% or 9.26 points higher to close at 1,658.19, compared with 1,648.93 yesterday.
The upbeat momentum was led by blue chip stock Petronas Chemicals which gained 2.49% or 19 sen to RM7.81.
The benchmark index opened 0.62 of-a-point higher at 1,649.55 earlier today and moved between 1,649.55 and 1,658.94 throughout the day.
Gainers trounced losers by 506 to 311, while 433 counters were unchanged, 641 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Phillip Capital Management senior vice president (investment) Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said investors remained optimistic of the market and believed that most investors only took a temporary break to evaluate the prevailing market.
He added that on the domestic front, the positive export sentiment was strong as the International Trade and Industry Ministry was confident of raking in over the RM1 trillion export mark this year due to the increase in the demand for local products.
“On the fundamental front, it should be looked from a positive perspective as the domestic economic data show strong signs of improving growth this year,“ he told Bernama.
On the technical analysis side, he said the local market staged a steady upward movement which saw a bounce above the 50-day moving average and the downtrend lines.
“Based on the one-month bullish bias, we expect to see improved sentiment in the coming sessions. Our upside view is supported by technical indicator, which suggests that the FBM KLCI has reached the bottom level,” he said.
Among heavyweights, Digi gained two sen to RM4.96, CIMB added nine sen to RM5.24, Dialog Group rose six sen to RM3.51 while Top Glove and Maybank inched up one sen to close RM4.66 and RM8.87, respectively.
As for the actives, Sapura Energy was up one sen to 31 sen, Scomi rose one sen to 10 sen and its warrant was half-a-sen higher to four sen, while KNM rose two sen to 37 sen, and NETX and Bumi Armada perked up half-a-sen each at two sen and 23 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index climbed 73.97 points to 11,790.22, the FBMT 100 Index gained 72.34 points to 11,616.25 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 99.20 points to 12,164.86.
The FBM 70 soared 123.04 points to 14,913.03 while the FBM Ace was down 3.98 points to 4,674.97.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index put on 43.21 points to 16,595.88, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.48 points to 156.81 but Plantation Index dropped 7.12 points to 6,814.00.
Turnover shrank to 2.50 billion units worth RM1.60 billion compared with 2.83 billion units worth RM1.84 billion on Thursday.
Main Market volume was lower at 1.77 billion shares worth RM1.47 billion against 1.91 billion shares worth RM1.66 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover declined slightly to 375.90 million units worth RM69.47 million from yesterday’s 380.21 million units worth RM73.05 million.
Volume on the ACE Market tumbled to 352.87 million shares worth RM60.26 million compared with yesterday’s 545.44 million shares worth RM97.35 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 187.74 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (201.63 million), construction (101.23 million), technology (141.50 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (30.89 million), property (66.17 million), plantation (7.85 million), REITs (13.79 million), closed/fund (7,900), energy (836.80 million), healthcare (20.40 million), telecommunications and media (117.43 million), transportation and logistics (21.63 million), and utilities (23.52 million). — Bernama
