Bursa Malaysia snaps three days of losses to end at intraday high

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — Bursa Malaysia snapped three consecutive days of losses to end at its intraday high today on bargain hunting in selected heavyweights led by the financial services and utilities sectors.

This was in tandem with a few key Asian markets which rebounded today while taking the cue from the strong performance of the US stocks, buoyed by artificial intelligence (AI) optimism which drove gains in chipmakers and brightened the earnings outlook for technology stocks, a dealer said.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.19 points to 1,486.37 from yesterday’s close of 1,479.18.

The barometer index opened one point better at 1,480.18 and moved to as low as 1,477.05 in the early morning session.

On the broader market, gainers beat losers 639 to 359, while 423 counters were unchanged, 844 untraded and 16 others suspended.

Turnover decreased to 5.39 billion units worth RM2.73 billion from 6.10 billion units worth RM3.62 billion yesterday.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the optimism for a US interest rate cut reemerged after data showed that manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region contracted by more than economists expected.

He also shared that economists predicted that Bank Negara Malaysia will maintain the overnight policy rates (OPR) at three per cent and hold at this level until at least by end-2025.

“We believe this will instil confidence in the improving economy, providing greater stability in corporate earnings and, in turn, enhancing the fundamentals of the local market.

“We reckon that interest in Malaysian equities will remain strong, given the robust daily trading volume, however, investors are staying cautious due to the rising volatility in the global markets,” he told Bernama.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.40 per cent to 35,963.27, South Korea’s Kospi surged 1.34 per cent to 2,472.74 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.40 per cent to 3,152.29.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index eased 0.54 per cent to 15,308.69 and Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index shed 0.47 per cent to 2,832.28.

Back home, heavyweights Maybank added one sen to RM9.03, Public Bank gained four sen to RM4.35, CIMB bagged seven sen to RM6.01, Tenaga Nasional rose eight sen to RM10.44, and Petronas Chemicals improved two sen to RM6.78.

Of the actives, Widad declined eight sen to 11 sen, Sarawak Consolidated fell 24.5 sen to 29 sen, Sapura Energy eased half-a-sen to 4.5 sen, Tanco slipped 14.5 sen to 36.5 sen, while Artroniq added 5.5 sen to 28.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 61.05 points to 11,065.16, the FBM 70 Index soared 120.87 points to 15,041.39, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 60.65 points to 10,734.29, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 59.41 points to 11,170.67, and the FBM ACE Index added 4.21 points to 4,790.15.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 66.57 points to 16,613.52, the Property Index improved 11.24 points to 890.97, the Plantation Index advanced 38.54 points to 7,163.09, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.52 of-a-point to 172.92, and the Energy Index perked up 3.28 points to 843.32.

The Main Market volume decreased to 3.28 billion units valued at RM2.40 billion from 3.68 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover declined to 530.55 million units worth RM65.93 million from 715.58 million units worth RM103.70 million previously.

The ACE Market volume slipped to 1.56 billion shares valued at RM261.65 million versus 1.68 billion shares valued at RM366.14 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 334.35 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.37 billion); construction (144.51 million); technology (263.46 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (77.80 million); property (419.91 million); plantation (39.95 million); REITs (8.75 million), closed/fund (28,600); energy (350.39 million); healthcare (74.93 million); telecommunications and media (43.55 million); transportation and logistics (43.13 million); and utilities (107.38 million). — Bernama