KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — Bursa Malaysia reversed earlier losses to finish slightly higher today on last-minute buying in selected index-linked counters.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ticked up 0.52 of-a-point, or 0.034 per cent to end at 1,516.38 from last Friday’s close of 1,515.86, trading sideways all day.

The key index eased 1.23 points to 1,514.63 at the opening and hovered between 1,507.57 and 1,514.63 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 765 to 361, while 357 counters were unchanged, 553 untraded and 36 others suspended.

Total volume slipped to 6.97 billion shares worth RM3.42 billion from 7.04 billion shares valued at RM4.08 billion last Friday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee said the local exchange remained in consolidation mode following last week’s dour Wall Street performance.

"Investor sentiment is still on the weak side due to lack of fresh catalysts after the Wall Street sell-down last Friday,” he told Bernama.

The Wall Street was closed on Monday for the Labour Day celebration.

Meanwhile, OANDA Asia-Pacific senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said Bursa Malaysia’s performance was "okay” compared with its regional peers.

On the broader market, he said energy and technology sectors led the decline, which was unsurprising as the United States’ technology stocks ended the previous week on a sour note, while benchmark Brent crude sell-off continued in Asia today.

Both Yee and Halley discounted the possibility of an impact from the potential Overnight Policy Rate adjustment to be announced on Thursday, as they believed investors had factored in Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision, which is either to maintain it at 1.75 per cent, or reduce it further by 25 basis points.

At the close, heavyweights Maybank and Maxis added five sen each to RM7.26 and RM5.10 respectively, KLK bagged 44 sen to RM23.00, Nestle surged RM1.40 to RM141.00 and IOI Corp was five sen firmer at RM4.45.

Of the actives, JCY went up three sen to 79.5 sen, SYF perked 11 sen to 29.5 sen, Ekovest climbed 3.5 sen to 52 sen, while Fintec trimmed two sen to 13.5 sen and XOX was one sen easier at 23 sen.

Supermax warrants continued to dominate the top losers list, taking up five out of the top 10 loser counters.

The list also included Supermax, which lost 60 sen to RM9.00, Allianz which slipped 70 sen to RM13.90, MPI which declined 48 sen to RM17.82 and Pharmaniaga which dwindled 38 sen to RM4.66.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 24.68 points to 10,947.62, the FBMT 100 Index was 17.28 points lower at 10,753.26 and the FBM 70 dipped 104.89 points to 14,293.29.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index contracted 55.61 points to 12,954.21 and the FBM ACE slumped 132.03  points to 10,674.02.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 17.43 points to 12,655.29, the Plantation Index improved 26.29 points to 7,089.54 while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.16 of-a-point to 136.77

Main Market volume widened to 4.24 billion shares worth RM2.71 billion compared with 3.78 billion shares worth RM3.16 billion last Friday.

Warrants turnover, however, narrowed to 567.18 million units valued at RM131.91 million from 699.50 million units worth RM209.20 million previously.

Volume on the ACE Market also fell to 2.15 billion shares worth RM577.31 million against 2.56 billion shares worth RM707.46 million previously.

Consumer products and services accounted for 955.29 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (967.86 million), construction (687.51 million), technology (550.62 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (33.0 million), property (391.67 million), plantations (61.92 million), REITs (6.33 million), closed/fund (4,500), energy (394.56 million), healthcare (80.41 million), telecommunications and media (49.70 million), transportation and logistics (50.78 million), and utilities (17.49 million). — Bernama