Bargain hunting keeps Bursa Malaysia higher at mid-day

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 ― Bursa Malaysia finished its morning trading session higher, backed by bargain hunting in selected heavyweights.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 8.23 points to 1,512.13 from yesterday’s close of 1,503.90.

It moved between 1,504.35 and 1,512.50 throughout the session, after opening 1.87 points higher at 1,505.77.

On the broader market, however, losers surpassed gainers 534 to 321, while 690 counters were unchanged, 565 untraded and 43 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 3.46 billion shares worth about RM1.20 billion.

Although buying interest re-emerged on the local bourse, brokerage firm Rakuten Trade expects the FBM KLCI to remain weak based on the current market sentiment.

“Wall Street succumbed to fears of a possible second Covid-19 wave. Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 131 points to close around the 27,450 level, and in view of this, we expect the regional markets to be volatile today with some downside bias.

“On the local front, we expect the FBM KLCI to remain weak although buying interests are anticipated to re-emerge in pandemic-related stocks,” it said in a note, adding that the benchmark index is expected to stay above the 1,500 mark and could possibly test the 1,510 level today.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained four sen to RM7.20, Public Bank increased 28 sen to RM15.86, Top Glove and Tenaga slipped two sen each to RM8.45 and RM10.58 respectively, while Hartalega was 18 sen weaker at RM16.82.

Of the actives, XOX, which aims to tap the Blockchain solutions market in Asia Pacific, saw its shares dropping one sen to 14 sen, while Kanger International lost two sen to 19 sen, Trive Property inched up half-a-sen to two sen and Lambo was flat at three sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 48.49 points to 10,887.46 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 39.39 points to 12,977.41.

The FBM 70 strengthened 34.90 points to 14,207.79, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 50.17 points to 10,714.43 and the FBM ACE was 59.15 points higher at 9,954.49.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 96.10 points to 12,503.27, the Plantation Index went up 5.65 points to 7,068.17 and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.34 points to 136.57. ― Bernama