KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — Bursa Malaysia rebounded from two consecutive days of declines to close higher today, spurred by bargain-hunting activities following the recent market sell-off.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.62 points to 1,541.41 from Wednesday’s close of 1,535.79.
The benchmark index, which opened 3.33 points firmer at 1,539.12, moved between 1,534.66 and 1,542.33 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading decliners 631 to 451, while 466 counters were unchanged, 788 untraded, and 11 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 4.02 billion units worth RM2.94 billion from 3.82 billion units worth RM2.66 billion on Wednesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices closed mostly higher, buoyed by strong corporate earnings by China’s technology companies, while the US Federal Reserve opted to keep interest rates steady and signalled potential consideration of at least three rate cuts in 2024.
Additionally, he said the Chinese government announced fresh measures to support the economy.
On the home front, Thong cautiously expects an optimistic outlook for the local market amidst its escalating volatility.
“Nonetheless, we maintain a positive long-term view supported by attractive valuations, robust corporate earnings, and improving economic conditions. As such, we anticipate the benchmark index to trend within the 1,540-1,550 range towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, CIMB added seven sen to RM6.55, Tenaga Nasional and Petronas Chemicals were four sen higher at RM11.54 and RM6.87, respectively, while Maybank and Public Bank lost two sen each to RM9.55 and RM4.22, respectively.
As for the actives, both Evergreen and SP Setia increased six sen to 51 sen and RM1.26, respectively, Minetech was up 2.5 sen to 16 sen, Wentel climbed 3.0 sen to 36 sen, while Top Glove lost 4.5 sen to 81.5 sen. — Bernama
