KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia closed higher today in line with regional bourses, as better-than-expected trade data from China helped brighten the mood in the equities market.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) settled at 1,642.54, up marginally by 1.17 points, compared with yesterday’s close of 1,641.37.
The index opened at 1,642.9 this morning and fluctuated between 1,640.64 and 1,646.48 throughout the day.
Market tone was positive, with gainers outpacing losers 459 to 371 while 362 counters were unchanged, 530 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Total volume increased to 1.93 billion shares worth RM1.88 billion from 1.8 billion shares worth RM2.11 billion.
On the technical front, Kenanga Research said the index was still in a lacklustre state and had yet to show any signs of improved buying momentum.
“With the absence of domestic catalysts and volatile macroeconomic factors, we view that the FBM KLCI will trade downside-biased towards the 1,600 level this week,” it said in a note.
“Immediate support and resistance are marked at 1,620 and 1,650 levels respectively.”
Of the heavyweights, Maybank added 2.0 sen to RM8.34, TNB was flat at RM13.02, Public Bank rose 4.0 sen to RM18.24 and Petronas Chemicals improved 9.0 sen to RM7.44.
As for active counters, Tiger Synergy gained a sen to 8.0 sen, Sanichi remained unchanged at 8.5 sen and Dufu improved 12 sen to 63 sen.
Of the top three gainers, British American Tobacco rose 80 sen to RM56.70, Scientex 60 sen to RM10.78 and Lay Hong 44 sen to RM7.70.
Among the top losers, Panasonic fell 44 sen to RM24.02, Malaysian Pacific Industries was down 38 sen to RM10.02 and Petron declined 31 sen to RM6.70.
On the scoreboards, the FBM Emas Index rose 10.28 points to 11,521.02, the FBMT100 Index gained 8.89 points to 11,186.01 but the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 3.31 points weaker at 12,488.75. The FBM 70 improved 13.7 points to 13,003.86 and the FBM Ace added 63.2 points to 6,294.51.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Index lost 7.87 points to 3,184.73, the Finance Index shed 1.57 points to 13,789.46 while the Plantation Index rose 8.92 points to 7,559.32.
Main Market volume fell to 1.31 billion units worth RM1.74 billion from 1.85 billion units worth RM1.96 billion recorded yesterday.
Turnover on the ACE Market was higher at 374.82 million shares valued at RM92.53 million from 345.06 million shares valued at RM90.13 million yesterday.
Warrants slipped to 248.4 million units worth RM51.63 million from 270.4 million units worth RM58.78 million traded yesterday.
Consumer products accounted for 214.82 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (337.71 million), construction (56.73 million), trade and services (403.01 million), technology (39.27 million), infrastructure (11.03 million), SPAC (42.79 million), finance (40.7 million), hotels (2.1 million), properties (137.72 million), plantations (15.58 million), mining (192,400), REITs (7.63 million) and closed/fund (48,000). — Bernama
