KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — Bursa Malaysia rebounded from last week’s losses to open higher today, on renewed buying activities in selected heavyweights due to marginally lower prices, dealers said.
At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.04 points to 1,563.78 from Friday’s close of 1,561.74.
At the opening bell, the barometre index was 0.81 of-a-point higher at 1,562.55.
On the broader market, there were 177 gainers and 161 losers, while 223 counters unchanged, 1,394 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 242.14 million shares worth RM77.46 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said although the immediate market outlook has turned dour, there is still hope for some mild reprieve after last Friday’s steep falls.
He said bargain hunting activities could emerge, not only to arrest the fall but to also allow the key index to find support at around the 1,560 level.
“However, we also think that any near term upsides will be limited due to the generally frail market conditions as Malaysian equities are still devoid of significant catalysts that are compounded by the prognosis of tepid corporate earnings and economic growth prospects in 2020.
“If the 1,560 points level fails to hold, the support moves back to the psychological 1,550 points level. The resistances, on the other hand, are at 1,570 and 1,580 points respectively,” it said in a research note today.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM8.54, Petronas Chemicals gained six sen to RM7.12, Public Bank and CIMB went up two sen each to RM19.64 and RM5.20, respectively, while TNB slipped 14 sen to RM13.02.
Of actives, Sapura Energy and M N C eased half-a-sen each to 27 sen and two sen while XOX, D.B.E Gurney and Yong Tai earned half-a-sen each to 4.5 sen, three sen and 21 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 12.38 points to 11,604.88, the FBM Emas Index advanced 13.64 points to 11,106.49, the FBM 70 bagged 12.04 points to 13,889.92, the FBMT 100 Index increased 13.13 points to 10,922.43 and the FBM Ace improved 21.69 points to 4,775.99.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index declined 0.66 of-a-point to 7,066.61, the Financial Services Index edged up 25.25 points to 15,356.87 and the Industrial Products & Services Index inched up 0.50 of-a-point to 150.41. — Bernama
