KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — Bursa Malaysia ended higher today on buying support in selected heavyweights led by Maybank and Top Glove, in line with positive performance in regional markets, on favourable outlook of the global economic recovery.
The two counters contributed combined 2.92 points to the decline in the barometer index, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.73 points or 0.52 per cent to end at 1,500.32 compared with 1,492.59 at yesterday’s close.
The index opened 0.15 of-a-point higher at 1,492.74 and fluctuated between 1,492.74 and 1,502.19 throughout the day.
On the broader market, gainers thumped losers 450 to 347, while 445 counters were unchanged, 1,058 untraded, and 15 others suspended.
Turnover rose to 3.12 billion units valued at RM1.60 billion from yesterday’s 2.45 billion units worth RM1.67 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Malaysian equities ended higher due to bargain-hunting in selected heavyweights such as glove, banks and gaming.
“Key regional indices also trended higher following overnight gains on Wall Street. Nonetheless, investors remain cautious, assessing the risk and impact of the Omicron virus strain.
“As for the local bourse, we reckon investor sentiment to remain jittery, hence, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend in range bound and hovering within the 1,490-1,505 range for the remaining of the week.
“Based on technical analysis, we shall see immediate resistance at 1,515 while support at 1,475,” he told Bernama today.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.16 per cent to 28,562.21, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.57 per cent to 23,102.33, Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 0.12 per cent to 3,081.31, and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.32 per cent to 2,984.48.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose 8.0 sen to RM8.22, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare gained 2.0 sen each to RM4.10 and RM6.55, CIMB advanced 5.0 sen to RM5.38, while Petronas Chemicals declined 2.0 sen to RM8.77.
Of the actives, ATA IMS added 2.5 sen to 71.5 sen, while Fintec Global, Pasukhas and DGB Asia were flat at 1.0 sen, 2.0 sen and 3.0 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 49.53 points higher at 10,884.95, the FBMT 100 Index improved 50.49 points to 10,593.97, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 44.94 points to 11,658.38.
The FBM 70 rose 48.43 points to 13,889.29 and the FBM ACE gained 45.41 points to 6,218.16.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 78.43 points to 15,366.49, the Industrial Products and Services Index earned 0.15 of-a-point to 194.41, and the Plantation Index perked up 10.62 points to 6,385.35.
The Main Market volume rose to 1.97 billion shares valued at RM1.40 billion versus yesterday’s 1.53 billion shares valued at RM1.45 billion.
Warrants turnover increased to 208.36 million units worth RM28.12 million compared with 157.22 million units worth RM26.30 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume jumped to 939.87 million shares valued at RM166.53 million from 762.83 million shares valued at RM189.78 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 223.76 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.14 billion), construction (26.81 million), technology (131.14 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (46.09 million), property (149.34 million), plantation (5.87 million), REITs (5.97 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (91.53 million), healthcare (57.90 million), telecommunications and media (22.45 million), transportation and logistics (46.82 million), and utilities (20.60 million). — Bernama
