KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Bursa Malaysia closed higher today, supported by bargain hunting activities following the previous day’s sell-off.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.49 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 1,611.85  from yesterday’s close of 1,604.36.

The benchmark index opened 2.98 points higher at 1,607.34 and traded between 1,606.14 and 1,611.94 during the trading session.

The broader market was positive, with gainers outpacing losers 683 to 380, while 571 counters were unchanged, 1,259 untraded, and 52 suspended.

Turnover rose to 3.37 billion units worth RM3.10 billion from yesterday’s 2.90 billion units worth RM2.15 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI remains attractively valued, underpinned by resilient domestic economic fundamentals.

 “We see opportunities for selective accumulation of fundamentally sound blue chips following recent corrections. Nevertheless, persistent foreign selling, subdued liquidity and uncertainty ahead of the United States Federal Reserve’s policy decision and major technology earnings could limit the recovery.

“Therefore, we expect the FBM KLCI to consolidate with a mild upward bias, trading within the 1,600-1,630 range for the rest of the week,” he told Bernama. 

Among heavyweight stocks, YTL Power International rose 14 sen to RM5.10, YTL Corporation gained nine sen to RM2.05, Tenaga Nasional added two sen to RM13.30, while Maybank and CIMB each rose one sen to RM9.99 and RM7.11, respectively.

In active trade, Zetrix AI and V.S Industry each gained one sen to 8.5 sen and 34.5 sen, respectively. Top Glove rose 3.5 sen to 96.5 sen, Ni Hsin added three sen to 50.5 sen, while Velesto Energy eased half a sen to 19.5 sen. 

Nestle led the gainers, rising RM4.02 to RM94.28, Malaysian Pacific Industries improved 72 sen to RM41.30, UMS Integration added 38 sen to RM7.58, Telekom Malaysia climbed 23 sen to RM8.05, and Kee Ming gained 20 sen to RM2.68. 

Among the top losers, Fraser & Neave declined 32 sen to RM19.68, PPB Group decreased 22 sen to RM8.80, United Plantations was down 20 sen to RM29.70, Bintulu Port slid 15 sen to RM5.20, and Hong Leong Financial Group lost 14 sen to RM17.36. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 62.29 points to 12,039.29 and the FBM Top 100 Index gained 59.59 points to 11,834.53.

The FBM Mid 70 Index advanced 106.58 points to 17,370.12, the FBM Emas Shariah Index leapt 74.94 points to 12,049.73, and the FBM ACE Index put on 24.97 points to 5,418.63.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.50 points to 176.91, the Financial Services Index improved 27.17 points to 18,601.03, the Plantation Index climbed 30.29 points to 8,654.26, while the Energy Index slid 2.99 points to 845.74.

The Main Market volume expanded to 1.99 billion units worth RM2.81 billion from 1.46 billion units worth RM1.88 billion yesterday.     

However, warrants turnover declined to 952.13 million units worth RM113.35 million against 1.0 billion units worth RM119.65 million previously.  

The ACE Market volume fell to 433.23 million units valued at RM181.44 million from 441.55 million units valued at RM148.63 million yesterday.  

Meanwhile, consumer products and services counters accounted for 271.19 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (283.06 million), construction (120.64 million), technology (531.41 million), financial services (82.10 million), property (158.69 million), plantation (48.78 million), real estate investment trusts (15.13 million), closed-end fund (62,600), energy (142.93 million), healthcare (157.22 million), telecommunications and media (45.81 million), transportation and logistics (59.33 million), utilities (69.63 million), and business trusts (62,300). — Bernama