KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — Bursa Malaysia ended higher today, in line with regional markets amid improving market sentiment globally and ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) decision on its interest rate later today.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.49 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 1,412.04, from Tuesday’s close of 1,406.55.
The market bellwether opened 2.05 points higher at 1,408.60 and moved between 1,406.51 and 1,413.52 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading decliners 497 to 377, while 408 counters were unchanged, 991 untraded and seven others suspended.
Turnover eased to 3.12 billion units worth RM1.89 billion from Tuesday’s 3.23 billion units worth RM1.85 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng expected the local bourse to remain cautious due to uncertainties globally especially on the outlook on monetary policy.
“However, we believe bargain hunting activities may continue given the reasonable valuations of shares on Bursa Malaysia due to the oversold position. Thus, we see the FBM KLCI hovering within the 1,410-1,420 range for the remainder of the week,” he added.
Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index garnered 1.53 per cent to 3,222.50, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index chalked up 1.73 per cent to 19,591.43, Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 1.93 per cent to 27,466.61, while China’s SSE Composite Index put on 0.31 per cent to 3,265.75.
Back home, Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank surged 15 sen to RM8.55, Public Bank and CIMB added one sen each to RM4 and RM5.20, Tenaga Nasional increased five sen to RM9.52, IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.88 and Petronas Chemicals slipped three sen to RM6.79.
Among the actives, Green Packet and Hong Seng Consolidated were flat at 4.5 sen and 13.5 sen respectively, Top Glove eased one sen to 95 sen, Computer Forms dipped 18 sen to 43.5 sen, and MY E.G. went down 2.5 sen to 70.5 sen. — Bernama
