KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia bucked the downbeat regional trend to close marginally higher on yesterday, amid continued buying interest in selected heavyweights led by financial services counters.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 1.08 points, or 0.07%, to 1,623.50 from Monday’s close of 1,622.42. However, market breadth was negative with 905 losers thumping 321 gainers, while 511 counters were unchanged, 910 untraded, and 13 suspended.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said, while the financial services counters remained the main driver supporting the benchmark index, broader market participation was mixed as investors turned increasingly selective ahead of key global data releases.
“Globally, market volatility eased slightly as investors adjusted to the ongoing United States government shutdown, which continues to delay several key economic data releases, including the US Job Opening and Labour Turnover Survey and potentially Friday’s non-farm payrolls,” he told Bernama.
