KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — The local benchmark index on Bursa Malaysia was 0.51 of-a-point higher at the close today, lifted by gains in selected blue chips.

At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI stood at 1,755.56 after hovering between 1,750.72 and 1,759.43 throughout the day.

Losers outpaced gainers by 420 to 324, while 333 counters were unchanged, 750 untraded and 29 others suspended.

Total volume declined to 1.61 billion units worth RM1.9 billion from 1.78 billion units worth RM2.19 billion yesterday.

Leading the top gainers’ list, Panasonic Manufacturing added 38 sen to RM22.18, Tahps Group gained 20 sen to RM7, Petronas Dagangan appreciated 18 sen to RM20, and Petronas Gas rose 14 sen to RM21.94.

HLIB Research said the index was starting to imply a potential reversal from grossly oversold positions.

“Nevertheless, given the lack of fresh catalysts, the FBM KLCI is likely to lock in trading range of 1,740-1,800 levels in an extended choppy trading environment.

“For a resumption of uptrend, the index must swiftly recapture the 1,792 and 1,800 levels,” the research firm said in a note.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank eased three sen to RM9.11, Tenaga fell six sen to RM13.34, Public Bank added 18 sen to RM18.96 and Axiata was three sen better at RM6.59.

Among actives, Frontken was 1.5 sen lower at 27.5 sen, K-One decreased 17.5 sen to 45 sen and Sumatec was flat at 20.5 sen.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index declined 9.37 points to 12,134.11, the FBMT100 Index lost 7.04 points to 11,818.37, the FBM Emas Syariah Index decreased 10.18 points to 12,597.57, the FBM 70 lost 47.86 points to 13,241.42, and the FBM Ace was 105.51 points lower at 6,615.27.

The Finance Index declined 13.38 points to 15,685.33, the Industrial Index shed 4.25 points to 3,198.49, but the Plantation Index bucked the trend to climb 29.91 points to 7,315.26.

Main Market volume decreased to 875.59 million shares worth RM1.69 billion from 945.68 million shares worth RM1.98 billion yesterday.

Turnover on the ACE Market decreased to 580.39 million shares worth RM158.6 million from 621.46 million shares worth RM124.22 million on Wednesday.

Warrants fell to 159.87 million shares worth RM53.73 million from 210.46 million shares worth RM77.66 million previously.

Consumer products accounted for 50.47 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (159.57 million), construction (58.31 million), trade and services (415.76 million), technology (37.6 million), infrastructure (15.05 million), SPAC (16.32 million), finance (36.7 million), hotels (874,500 million), properties (61.24 million), plantations (17.68 million), mining (31,000), REITs (5.91 million), and closed/fund (8,400). — Bernama