KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia traded higher yesterday, supported by renewed buying interest in selected banking and telecommunications heavyweights, says an analyst.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 6.69 points, or 0.39%, to 1,714.79, compared with last Friday’s close of 1,708.10. The benchmark index opened 1.60 points higher at 1,709.70 and fluctuated between 1,708.26 and 1,715.29 throughout the trading session.
The broader market, however, was negative with losers outpacing gainers 611 to 488, while 580 counters were unchanged, 1,109 untraded and 25 suspended.
Turnover declined to 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45bil from 4.33 billion units valued at RM2.98bil last Friday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said major regional indices ended mixed after a weaker lead from Wall Street last Friday, although technology stocks remained resilient as renewed artificial intelligence optimism spurred demand for chipmakers.
Meanwhile, he said sentiment in China received some boost after Beijing announced a 360 billion yuan capital injection into state-owned banks and insurers, including 300 billion yuan to be funded through special Treasury bonds.
This came as the republic’s policymakers stepped up efforts to strengthen financial institutions and sustain credit growth.
“As for the local bourse, we remain cautious despite today’s positive close, given elevated crude oil prices and the rise in the United States 10-year Treasury yield,” he told Bernama. Thong also said higher energy prices could keep global inflationary pressures elevated, while rising bond yields may continue to weigh on risk appetite as investors reassess the outlook for US interest rates.
Nevertheless, renewed buying in banking and telecommunications heavyweights, coupled with resilient domestic fundamentals, should provide some support to the benchmark index.
“Looking ahead, we expect the FBM KLCI to remain range-bound in the short term as investors balance supportive domestic factors against lingering external uncertainties.
“Attention will remain on developments in West Asia, movements in global bond yields and upcoming US inflation data for further clues on the Federal Reserve’s policy direction,” he said.
