Muristek
On the broader market, gainers thumped decliners 601 to 435, while 405 counters were unchanged, 795 untraded and 13 others suspended. — Bernama pic
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KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — Bursa Malaysia ended on a firmer note on strong buying support in selected heavyweights, led by plantation and banking stocks, bucking the downtrend among regional peers.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 7.93 points higher at 1,604.72 compared with Tuesday’s close of 1,596.79.
The key index opened 0.67 of-a-point easier at 1,596.12 and moved between 1,595.19 and 1,605.50 throughout the day.
On the broader market, gainers thumped decliners 601 to 435, while 405 counters were unchanged, 795 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Total turnover decreased to 3.43 billion units worth RM2.47 billion from 3.87 billion units worth RM2.37 billion on Tuesday.
A dealer noted that Bursa Malaysia had stayed upbeat for the rest of the day, bucking the downtrend among regional peers.
“Key Asian markets took their cue from the weaker Wall Street after the United States Federal Reserves (US Fed) reiterated its more aggressive approach in tightening its monetary policy to tame inflation amidst the unresolved conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“Meanwhile, the reopening of borders and high commodity prices helped to support Malaysia’s economic recovery path,” he said.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that the FBM KLCI trended higher today as bargain hunting emerged after two days of sell-downs, with buying interest mainly seen in plantation, oil and gas and banking heavyweights.
“If the FBM KLCI is able to sustain above the 1,600 mark for a longer period, the outlook of the benchmark index will be positive in the mid-term.
“We believe the benchmark index would stay in consolidation mode for the time being due to cautious sentiment, although foreign buying and bargain hunting activities may emerge as well.
“As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,590-1.610 range for the remainder of the week,” he said.
He added that investors are now waiting for the release of minutes from the US Fed’s policy meeting slated later today for the latest insight on the US monetary policy and its plan to reduce the balance sheet.
Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.87 per cent to 22,080.52, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 1.58 per cent to 27,350.30, Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 0.64 per cent to 3,422.93 and South Korea’s Kospi eased 0.88 per cent to 2,735.03.
On the local front, heavyweights Maybank rose three sen to RM8.89, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.71, Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare rose 14 sen each to RM9.99 and RM6.39, respectively, while CIMB Group gained four sen to RM5.31.
Of the actives, Dagang Nexchange eased one sen to RM1.10, Vizione edged up half-a-sen to six sen, MyEG added one sen to RM1.03 while Techna-X and AT Systematization were flat 8.5 sen and two sen, respectively.
On the index board, FBMT 100 Index expanded 52.55 points to 11,201.61, FBM Emas Index added 56.42 points to 11,550.04, FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 59.43 points to 12,199.41, FBM 70 rose 54.63 points to 14,081.65 and FBM ACE improved 5.76 points to 5,870.28.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.83 points to 211.63, the Financial Services Index soared 75.79 points to 16,795.75 and the Plantation Index surged 144.27 points to 8,317.54.
The Main Market volume fell to 2.30 billion shares worth RM2.17 billion compared with 2.85 billion shares worth RM2.11 billion on Tuesday.
Warrants turnover surged to 378.19 million units valued at RM65.38 million against 132.61 million units valued at RM13.61 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume decreased to 745.34 million shares worth RM227.69 million versus 884.44 million shares worth RM237.34 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 334.41 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (580.58 billion), construction (204.06 million), technology (365.94 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (102.91 million), property (237.24 million), plantation (66.36 million), REITs (7.90 million), closed/fund (600), energy (245.88 million), healthcare (59.56 million), telecommunications and media (25.52 million), transportation and logistics (43.64 million), and utilities (24.65 million). — Bernama