KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI closed at its intraday high on Monday, supported by selective blue-chip buying in line with regional gains, while the broader market weakened on cautious sentiment.
The market barometer rose 13.27 points, or 0.82%, to 1,622.42, its intraday high, after touching a low of 1,608.85 earlier in the session.
Market breadth was negative, with 762 decliners outpacing 450 gainers, while turnover stood at 3.25 billion shares worth RM2.48bil.
Dealers said the market traded higher today, lifted by bargain hunting and institutional interest, though broader sentiment stayed measured in the absence of new domestic catalysts.
They added that investors are expected to adopt a wait-and-see approach ahead of Bank Negara’s Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) announcement this week.
Among the top gainers on Bursa Malaysia were Malaysian Pacific Industries
, up RM1 to RM31, Hong Leong Bank, which advanced 36 sen to RM20.92, Allianz, up 34 sen to RM18.30, and Dutch Lady, which added 30 sen to RM26.50.
On the downside, MMAG-WC slid 30 sen to seven sen, MMAG lost 27.5 sen to 18.5 sen, F&N fell 24 sen to RM24.92 and Perak Corp declined 19.5 sen to 75 sen.
On the foreign exchange market, the ringgit eased 0.28% against the US dollar to 4.2013 and slipped 0.06% against the Singapore dollar to 3.2230.
Around the region, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan rose 0.75%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 2.12%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.97%, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 2.78%, and China’s CSI300 Index gained 0.27%.
