KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI rebounded on Thursday, ending a five-session losing streak that wiped out nearly 80 points.
The 30-stock index gained 25.20 points, or 1.7%, to close at 1,510.03 after reaching an intraday high of 1,513.97. The move is the biggest since rising 2.47% on Aug 6. All indices on Bursa Malaysia ended higher.
Market sentiment was positive, with 728 gainers outpacing 268 decliners. Trading volume stood at 3.25 billion shares, valued at RM2.9bil.
Dealers expect investor sentiment to stay weak despite cooler U.S. inflation data for February, as concerns over a growing global trade war overshadow early optimism about the figures.
They noted that the FBM KLCI is deeply oversold following the recent sell-down, making it increasingly attractive and creating bargain-hunting opportunities.
Among the gainers, Allianz jumped 74 sen to RM17.62, PETRONAS Dagangan rose 62 sen to RM17.02, Heineken added 48 sen to RM26.70 and Dutch Lady
climbed 46 sen to RM27.10.
PETRONAS Gas slid 32 sen to RM16.60, Panasonic Manufacturing fell 22 sen to RM14.74, United Plantations lost 18 sen to RM21.22 and NPC Resources declined 11 sen to RM2.65.
Sapura Energy was the most actively traded stock. The stock, which saw 170.04 million shares traded, added 0.5 sen to 4.5 sen.
On the forex market, the ringgit weakened by 0.11% against the US dollar to 4.4330 and fell by 0.13% against the Singapore dollar to 3.3239.
Asia stock markets, meanwhile, finished lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.08%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed down 0.58%, South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.05%, China’s CSI 300 Index lost 0.4% and Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.14%.
