KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — Bursa Malaysia ended marginally higher today with the key index rising 0.32 per cent on bargain hunting, in sync with the upbeat regional market performance as foreign funds return to the region.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 4.56 points to 1,444.67 from 1,440.11 at yesterday’s close.

The barometer index opened 1.41 points better at 1,441.52, its intraday low, and moved to an intraday high of 1,446.75 just minutes before trading ended.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 500 to 421, while 416 counters were unchanged, 1,014 untraded and 30 others suspended.

Turnover increased to 3.53 billion units worth RM1.91 billion from yesterday’s 3.23 billion units worth RM1.97 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the key regional indices were also in positive territory following the upbeat mode on Wall Street overnight and the return of foreign funds to the region.

“Investors hold a positive outlook, believing that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) has concluded its interest rate hikes for this cycle and anticipating the Fed to commence rate reductions in the early months of the upcoming year.

“Back home, we maintain our optimistic view on the local stock market in the mid-term, buoyed by the inflow of foreign funds and recovering economic conditions. We anticipate the benchmark index to trend within the 1,440-1,450 range towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.

Regionally, the Singapore’s Straits Times Index improved 0.21 per cent to 3,180.72, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index expanded 0.87 per cent to 32,287.21, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 2.05 per cent to 18,212.17, China’s SSE Composite Index rose 0.12 per cent to 3,082.24, while Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index slipped 0.32 per cent 6,899.39.

Bursa Malaysia heavyweights, Maybank gained two sen to RM9.01, TNB perked up one sen to RM10, Petronas Chemicals advanced five sen to RM6.85, Public Bank and CIMB were flat at RM4.08 and RM5.58, respectively, and Petronas Gas shed 10 sen to RM17.04.

Among the actives, Velesto, MY EG and Glostrext all added half-a-sen each to 24 sen, 81 sen and 25 sen, respectively, Sapura Energy was flat at five sen, Hong Seng eased half-a-sen to five sen, RGB international fell 3.5 sen to 37.5 sen, while CN Asia eased one sen to 23 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 32.68 points to 10,668.58, the FBMT 100 Index improved by 31.31 points to 10,350.09, the FBM Emas Shariah Index put on 51.96 points to 10,911.75, the FBM 70 Index climbed 37.16 points to 14,156.73, and the FBM ACE Index gained 29.64 points to 5,314.78.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 3.95 points to 16,186.94, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.49 of-a-point to 168.84, the Plantation Index expanded by 35.24 points to 6,998.32, and the Energy Index eased 0.06 of-a-point to 823.72.

The Main Market volume went up to 2.36 billion units worth RM1.60 billion from 2.16 billion units worth RM1.70 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover swelled to 420.48 million units worth RM65.37 million from 364.58 million units worth RM46.19 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume surged to 746.82 million shares to RM240.07 million against yesterday’s 364.58 million shares worth RM46.19 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 478.43 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (440.28 million); construction (97.12 million); technology (421.62 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (54.68 million); property (230.08 million); plantation (34.22 million); REITs (9.33 million), closed/fund (67,400); energy (427.22 million); healthcare (46.53 million); telecommunications and media (30.74 million); transportation and logistics (45.37 million); and utilities (44.23 million). — Bernama