Rakuten's Thong said he expects to see more upside in the near future as the FBM KLCI remains in an oversold position.
PETALING JAYA: Late selling in selected heavyweights, led by healthcare and consumer products and services counters, resulted in Bursa Malaysia closing mixed yesterday.
The local benchmark index ended at an intra-day low despite positive sentiment from regional bourses.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI slipped 1.83 points, or 0.13%, to 1,396.23 from 1,398.06 at Wednesday’s close.
The barometer index opened 3.04 points better at 1,401.10 yesterday morning and moved to the highest point of 1,401.76 in the morning session.
The broader market was positive as gainers beat losers 518 to 378, while 400 counters were unchanged, 960 untraded and 14 others suspended.
Turnover rose to 2.93 billion units worth RM1.78bil versus 2.82 billion units worth RM1.73bil on Wednesday.
IHH Healthcare Bhd
and Petronas Dagangan Bhd were the top contributors to the losses in the key index, declining 18 sen and 64 sen each to RM5.77 and RM21.76, respectively, with a combined total of 3.67 points.
However, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said he expects to see more upside in the near future as the FBM KLCI remains in an oversold position.
“If the benchmark index sustains above the 1,400-point level for a longer period, about four to five days, the outlook of the benchmark index will be positive in the longer term.
“The long-awaited 1,395 resistance has been broken. Therefore, the outlook has turned more positive. However, there are also profit-taking possibilities because the index has gained quite a lot lately,” he told Bernama.
Additionally, Thong said the improving relationship between the United States and China provided an additional boost to investors’ confidence, moving forward.
Among other heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd decreased two sen each to RM8.73 and RM5.20, respectively.
Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd slipped three sen to RM6.13, while Public Bank Bhd improved five sen to RM3.92 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd went up seven sen to RM9.10.
Of the actives, Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd shed three sen to 46.5 sen, while Classita Holdings Bhd advanced 1.5 sen to 14 sen, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd perked up one sen to 9.5 sen and Ta Win Holdings Bhd earned half-a-sen to 4.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 1.88 points firmer at 10,302.23, the FBMT 100 Index eased 0.93 of-a-point to 9,989.26, the FBM Emas Syariah Index was 18.58 points lower at 10,583.93, the FBM 70 Index improved 50.11 points to 13,604.97, and the FBM ACE Index fell 8.75 points to 5,212.52.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased 47.88 points to 15,545.16, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.19 of-a-point to 161.07, the Energy Index reduced 2.70 points to 811.18, while the Plantation Index shed 0.36 of-a-point to 6,895.67.
The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.99 billion units valued at RM1.53bil from 2.09 billion units valued at RM1.5bil on Wednesday.
