Bursa Malaysia ends mixed, FBM KLCI up marginally

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended trading on a mixed note today, with continued buying in selected healthcare and utility counters which kept the benchmark index in the positive territory, in line with the regional markets as investors remained cautious over the economic outlook

At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 3.80 points to 1,386.27 from last Friday's close of 1,382.47.

The barometer index opened 1.03 points higher at 1,383.50, thereafter dipped to a low of 1,376.68 before gathering momentum to trend upwards throughout the afternoon to an intraday high of 1,389.21.

On the broader market, however, decliners led advancers 443 to 363, while 394 counters were unchanged, 1,145 untraded, and 17 others suspended.

Turnover narrowed to 1.98 billion units worth RM1.49 billion against 2.25 billion units worth RM1.76 billion on Friday.

IHH Healthcare and Tenaga Nasional were the top two contributors to the gains in the FBM KLCI with a combined 3.63 points, putting on 14 sen and 16 sen each to end at RM5.86 and RM8.19, respectively

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the market bellwether closed marginally higher as investors continued to bargain hunt for stocks at lower levels following the recent heavy selldown.

"Key regional indices trended mixed as investors are wary of further drastic tightening in global financial markets, with all the risks of recession that it brings.

"On the other hand, China's President Xi Jinping said on Sunday that Beijing will ramp up spending and stimulus to help shore up economic growth, potentially boosting crude imports which have been hit by slowing activity as a result of COVID-19 disruptions,” he told Bernama.

On the home front, Thong reckoned that bargain hunting may continue as the benchmark index remained in the oversold position.

"Additionally, some investors may position themselves for the upcoming 15th general election. As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,380-1,400 for the week. Technically speaking, we shall see immediate resistance at 1,400 and support at 1,370,” he said.

Among other heavyweights, Maybank gained 7.0 sen to RM8.52, Hong Leong Bank went up 10 sen to RM20.60, Petronas Chemicals shed 5.0 sen to RM8.50, while Public Bank and CIMB were flat at RM4.20 and RM5.30, respectively.

Of the actives, ACE Market debutant Sunview gained 17 sen to 46 sen, Top Glove improved 5.0 sen to 74 sen, Careplus surged 9.5 sen to 41.5 sen, and Supermax increased 8.0 sen to 90.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 5.74 points to 9,864.06, the FBM 70 declined 72.16 points to 11,832.54, and the FBMT 100 Index gained 6.37 points to 9,613.83.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 1.65 points to 9,853.14 and the FBM ACE climbed 29.67 points to 4,681.77.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was 42.42 points higher at 15,915.90, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.33 of-a-point to 169.55, the Plantation Index shed 16.41 points to 6,405.46, while the Energy Index slid 3.65 points to 665.04.

The Main Market volume declined to 1.16 billion shares worth RM1.22 billion versus 1.41 billion shares worth RM1.53 billion last Friday.

Warrants turnover slipped to 269.20 million units valued at RM44.36 million against 382.09 million units valued at RM53.67 million previously.

The ACE Market volume expanded to 546.11 million shares worth RM219.47 million from 465.02 million shares worth RM173.42 million on Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 156.42 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (296.55 million), construction (45.81 million), technology (93.89 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (48.72 million), property (74.89 million), plantation (14.69 million), REITs (6.14 million), closed/fund (500), energy (87.22 million), healthcare (277.01 million), telecommunications and media (22.63 million), transportation and logistics (22.24 million), and utilities (12.60 million). - Bernama