KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI snapped a two-day losing streak to close higher on Monday, rebounding from last week’s declines.
At closing, the 30-stock index rebounded 0.55%, or 8.62 points, to finish at 1,584.96. The benchmark, however, stayed off its intraday high of 1,588.61, reflecting some late profit-taking after earlier gains.
In the broader market, gainers and decliners were nearly balanced, with 491 gainers against 513 decliners, while 470 counters remained unchanged. Turnover came to 2.54 billion shares valued at RM2.72bil.
Dealers said investors will focus on the upcoming wave of corporate earnings as the month enters its final two weeks.
They added that investors are also awaiting the Jackson Hole Symposium for signals on a potential Federal Reserve rate cut at the next policy meeting.
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell will speak at the Jackson Hole Symposium this week to outline the central bank’s economic and policy outlook.
On Bursa Malaysia, Malaysian Pacific Industries
led the gainers, surging 82 sen to RM23.12. Other top gainers included Allianz-PA, up 58 sen to RM18.06, Hong Leong Bank, which rose 38 sen to RM20.00, and Allianz, which added 34 sen to RM18.04.
Conversely, Nestle slipped 48 sen to RM87.02, Heineken fell 24 sen to RM22.96, Dutch Lady eased 20 sen to RM27.84, while LPI Capital declined 16 sen to RM14.74.
Meanwhile, the ringgit eased 0.28% against the greenback to 4.2238 and slipped 0.25% against the Singapore dollar to 3.2932.
On the external front, Asian indices ended mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.77% to 43,714.31, China’s CSI300 gained 0.88% to 4,239.41, and the Shanghai Composite advanced 0.85%.
In contrast, South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.5% to 3,177.28, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.37% to 25,176.85.
