KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 — Late buying in selected heavyweights led by CIMB and Press Metal lifted Bursa Malaysia to end at its intraday high today, amid mixed performance on regional bourses, dealers said.
The two counters contributed a combined 5.70 points to the gains in the barometer index, the dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 7.06 points to 1,550.17, from 1,543.11 at Friday’s closed.
The index opened 0.27 of-a-point better at 1,543.38 and hit a low of 1,540.31 amid mixed market sentiment.
The overall market breadth however was slightly negative with decliners beating advancers 502 to 454, while 402 counters were unchanged, 915 untraded, and 21 others suspended.
Total turnover widened to 6.65 billion units worth RM2.38 billion versus 4.14 billion units valued at RM1.90 billion last Friday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said FBM KLCI ended higher as investors continued to bargain hunt particularly for glove and banking heavyweights.
“Key regional markets trended mostly higher despite negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders continued to pick up stocks at a bargain after the recent sell-off.
“Nonetheless, some investors remain concerned on whether the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will raise rates at a time of slowing economic growth as a result of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of the Covid-19,” he told Bernama today.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.03 per cent to 28,478.56, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.08 per cent to 23,746.54, Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.67 per cent to 3,226.76, and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.95 per cent to 2,926.72.
On the domestic front, Thong said the FBM KLCI moved in a tight consolidation mode since early January as investors remained cautious due to heightened regional volatility.
“However, we reckon the index is well supported above the 1,530 level. We continue to maintain our cautiously optimistic view and expect bargain hunting activities to continue, while on the other hand, we remain cautious given the increasing risk amid the potential interest hike by the Fed in the US.
“As such, we expect the benchmark index to trade within the 1,540-1,560 range for the week. Technically, the immediate support is unchanged at 1,530 while resistance is at 1,570,” he added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank gained 2.0 sen each to RM8.34 and RM4.18, respectively, Petronas Chemicals garnered 11 sen to RM8.90, CIMB jumped 21 sen to RM5.67, IHH Healthcare trimmed 6.0 sen to RM6.68, while Press Metal surged 13 sen to RM5.88.
Of the actives, Fintec and XOX earned half-a-sen each to 1.5 sen and 3.0 sen, respectively, Trive Property added 5.0 sen to 13 sen, while MQ Technology advanced 1.5 sen to 12 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 13.27 points firmer at 11,230.69, the FBMT 100 Index improved 19.61 points to 10,923.25, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 32.84 points to 12,026.64, the FBM ACE soared 61.86 points to 6,753.89, and the FBM 70 lost 105.05 points to 14,222.36.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index chalked up 158.91 points to 15,866.33, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.67 of-a-point to 202.94, while the Plantation Index climbed 12.06 points to 6,730.89.
The Main Market volume expanded to 3.47 billion shares worth RM1.98 billion compared with 1.97 billion shares worth RM1.5 billion last Friday.
Warrants turnover improved to 248.02 million units worth RM33.34 million from 247.10 million units worth RM32.95 million.
The ACE Market volume widened to 2.95 billion shares worth RM360.39 million versus 1.92 million shares valued at RM364.64 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 600.94 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.04 billion), construction (213.26 million), technology (703.99 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (68.56 million), property (209.20 million), plantation (11.34 million), REITs (5.27 million), closed/fund (20,000), energy (208.94 million), healthcare (78.86 million), telecommunications and media (42.66 million), transportation and logistics (264.94 million), and utilities (17.55 million). — Bernama
