PETALING JAYA: Bursa Malaysia ended in positive territory yesterday, supported by selective buying in blue chips while investors remained cautious amid a mixed regional market performance.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 8.43 points, or 0.49%, to 1,722.19 after touching an intraday high of 1,726.75.
Winners and losers were closely balanced, with 576 gainers against 550 losers and 563 that were flat.
About 3.7 billion shares, valued at RM2.8bil, changed hands.
Dealers said the local market was supported by selective buying in heavyweight banking and defensive stocks, although overall gains remained limited.
They added that investors remained cautious ahead of key economic data releases and ongoing uncertainty over the global interest rate outlook.
One dealer said the near-term outlook for the local stock market is likely to remain cautiously constructive, with gains expected to be gradual rather than broad-based.
“We expect the FBM KLCI to trade within a range over the coming weeks as investors balance supportive domestic factors against lingering external uncertainties.
“Positive catalysts include expectations of resilient corporate earnings and continued foreign investment into Malaysia’s data centre and infrastructure sectors as well as stable domestic economic growth.”
However, he said upside could be capped by several headwinds.
“These include uncertainty over global trade policies, geopolitical tensions, concerns over the pace of the global economic recovery, and the possibility of profit-taking after recent market gains.
“Investors are also likely to remain selective ahead of the second-quarter earnings season, favouring companies with strong earnings visibility and defensive characteristics.”
Among the gainers, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd rose RM1 to RM93, United Plantations gained 30 sen to RM35, Critical Holdings advanced 24 sen to RM1.90 and Nationgate climbed 20 sen to RM1.17.
Conversely, technology and semiconductor stocks were among the biggest losers on Bursa Malaysia, led by Malaysian Pacific Industries
Bhd, which fell 46 sen to RM45.28.
UMS Integration Ltd shed 28 sen to RM8.03, UWC Bhd lost 13 sen to RM6.03, MI Technovation Bhd dropped 11 sen to RM4.87 and Unisem (M) Bhd declined 10 sen to RM4.56.
Among the banks, Public Bank Bhd rose 15 sen to RM5.20, Malayan Banking Bhd added eight sen to RM11.04, RHB Bank Bhd climbed three sen to RM8.47 and AMMB Holdings Bhd gained one sen to RM6.49.
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd declined one sen to RM7.70 and Hong Leong Bank Bhd lost 10 sen to RM22.02.
Meanwhile, stock market data showed foreign investors were net buyers on Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday, with net purchases of RM141mil.
Local institutions and retailers were net sellers, offloading RM136mil and RM5mil worth of equities, respectively.
On the forex market, the ringgit strengthened 0.12% to 4.0735 against the US dollar, trimming its year-to-date loss to 0.3%.
Furthermore, the local currency slipped 0.15% to 3.1613 against the Singapore dollar.
Asian markets closed broadly lower, led by sharp losses in Japan and South Korea, with the Nikkei 225 falling 2.79% and the Kospi tumbling 6.37%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index bucked the trend with a 1.33% gain, while China’s CSI300 Index and Shanghai Composite each slipped 1.85%.
