Bargain hunting lifts Bursa Malaysia to end marginally higher

KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — Bursa Malaysia ended marginally higher Tuesday on bargain hunting in selective heavyweights and in line with most regional markets.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.74 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 1,406.55 from Monday’s close of 1,401.81.

The market bellwether opened 5.35 points higher at 1,407.16 and moved between 1,403.96 and 1,412.81 throughout the day.

Market breadth was positive with gainers leading decliners 483 to 367, while 394 counters were unchanged, 1,010 untraded and seven others suspended.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 41.67 points higher at 10,290.78, the FBM 70 Index was 78.56 points firmer at 13,290.45, and the FBMT 100 Index increased 39.82 points to 9,987.33.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 31.97 points to 10,618.28, and the FBM ACE Index climbed 42.32 points to 5,261.05.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 80.06 points to 15,534.08, the Energy Index rose 10.02 points to 795.23, the Plantation Index decreased by 28.15 points to 6,752.32, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.53 of-a-point to 167.01.

The Main Market volume shrank to 2.07 billion shares worth RM1.59 billion from 2.28 billion shares worth RM1.66 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover dwindled to 358.33 million units worth RM61.74 million from 550.98 million units worth RM86.67 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume expanded to 778.95 million shares worth RM201.03 million from 633.67 million shares worth RM182.64 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 322.51 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (320.06 million); construction (37.14 million); technology (359.44 million); SPAC (nil), financial services (98.58 million); property (98.80 million); plantation (22.49 million); REITs (5.71 million), closed/fund (nil); energy (147.19 million); healthcare (361.24 million); telecommunications and media (244.87 million); transportation and logistics (26.41 million); and utilities (25.61 million).

Turnover eased to 3.23 billion units worth RM1.85 billion against Monday’s 3.47 billion units worth RM1.93 billion.

“Despite the improvement in global market sentiment, we prefer to stay cautious as we reckon market volatility would stay high in the near-term although the benchmark index remained in oversold position,” Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng told Bernama.

He expects the FBM KLCI to move in rangebound trading, hovering within the 1,400-1,415 range for the remainder of the week.

“On a technical point of view, the immediate support is seen at 1,400 followed by 1,390 while support is at 1,420,” he said.

Regionally, the Singapore’s Straits Times Index garnered 1.25 per cent to 3,179.02, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index chalked up 1.36 per cent to 19,258.76, China’s SSE Composite Index put on 0.64 per cent to 3,255.65, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.38 per cent to 2,388.35.

Back home, Bursa Malaysia heavyweights, Maybank advanced six sen to RM8.40, Public Bank and CIMB improved by four sen each to RM3.99 and RM5.19, repectively, TNB was flat at RM9.47, Petronas Chemicals dipped 18 sen to RM6.82, and Hong Leong Bank lost 10 sen to RM20.

Among the actives, Top Glove increased 5.5 sen to 96 sen, Careplus increased four sen to 31.5 sen, Malaysia Building Society climbed 1.5 sen to 66 sen, Velesto was up one sen to 20 sen, while Zen Tech and Hong Seng Consolidated edged down half-a-sen each to 2.5 sen and 13.5 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 41.67 points higher at 10,290.78, the FBM 70 Index was 78.56 points firmer at 13,290.45, and the FBMT 100 Index increased 39.82 points to 9,987.33.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 31.97 points to 10,618.28, and the FBM ACE Index climbed 42.32 points to 5,261.05.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 80.06 points to 15,534.08, the Energy Index rose 10.02 points to 795.23, the Plantation Index decreased by 28.15 points to 6,752.32, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.53 of-a-point to 167.01.

The Main Market volume shrank to 2.07 billion shares worth RM1.59 billion from 2.28 billion shares worth RM1.66 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover dwindled to 358.33 million units worth RM61.74 million from 550.98 million units worth RM86.67 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume expanded to 778.95 million shares worth RM201.03 million from 633.67 million shares worth RM182.64 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 322.51 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (320.06 million); construction (37.14 million); technology (359.44 million); SPAC (nil), financial services (98.58 million); property (98.80 million); plantation (22.49 million); REITs (5.71 million), closed/fund (nil); energy (147.19 million); healthcare (361.24 million); telecommunications and media (244.87 million); transportation and logistics (26.41 million); and utilities (25.61 million). — Bernama