KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 —Bursa Malaysia ended firmer today as bargain-hunting activities emerged following today’s profit-taking.
The local bourse bucked the regional trend which was mostly lower as investors digested the United States (US) Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain its key interest rate on Wednesday, said an analyst.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.33 points or 0.28 per cent to 1,580.30 from Tuesday’s close of 1,575.97.
The benchmark index opened one point easier at 1,574.97 and moved between 1,574.27 and 1,582.68 throughout the day.
However, on the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers 620 to 530, while 464 counters were unchanged, 676 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover declined to 3.81 billion units worth RM3.06 billion from 4.18 billion units worth RM3.75 billion on Tuesday.
A dealer said Bursa Malaysia opened easier today before turning mixed at mid-morning as the barometer index moved into the positive territory to end higher, supported by buying in selected heavyweights.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the key regional indices trended lower following mixed cues from Wall Street overnight.
Nonetheless, he noted that Hong Kong’s bourse recorded strong gains as investors celebrated the removal of additional restrictions on the struggling property market.
At the same time, China’s electric vehicle makers rose sharply after clocking strong delivery figures for April, with Nio Inc leading gains as deliveries more than doubled from last year, he shared.
“On the domestic front, our view on the local equity market remained optimistic, underpinned by its compelling valuations and steady foreign inflow. As such, we foresee the benchmark index to move within the 1,580 to 1,590 range towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged down 0.10 per cent to 38,236.07, South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.31 per cent to 2,683.65, and China’s SSE Composite Index slid by 0.26 per cent to 3,104.82.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2.50 per cent to 18,207.13 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index improved 0.07 per cent to 3,294.87.
Back home, heavyweights Maybank added five sen to RM9.78, CIMB gained three sen to RM6.64, and Tenaga Nasional rose six sen to RM12.02.
Public Bank shed two sen to RM4.10 and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.33.
As for the actives, MyEG slid three sen to 90.5 sen, Iconic Worldwide warrant eased half-a-sen to four sen, Top Glove and Velesto shed one sen each to 87 sen and 26 sen respectively, and Binapuri was flat at 7.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 23.83 points to 11,896.09, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 22.10 points to 11,524.83, the FBM Emas Shariah Index garnered 27.65 points to 12,113.59, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 30.98 points to 5,107.68.
The FBM 70 Index slipped 7.06 points to 16,614.19.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased 29.11 points to 17,243.26, the Plantation Index added 18.43 points to 7,455.19 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.89 of-a-point to 190.03, while the Energy Index gave up 11.72 points to 963.94.
The Main Market volume fell to 2.14 billion units valued at RM2.70 billion versus 2.82 billion units valued at RM3.41 billion on Tuesday.
Warrants turnover surged to 1.19 billion units worth RM157.99 million against 865.71 million units worth RM125.79 million previously.
The ACE Market volume dipped to 478.56 million shares worth RM196.65 million from 500.90 million shares worth RM207.06 million on Tuesday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 433.19 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (385.15 million), construction (176.61 million), technology (300.75 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (106.14 million), property (235.76 million), plantation (53.11 million), REITs (18.41 million), closed/fund (38,000), energy (149.53 million), healthcare (117.42 million), telecommunications and media (50.14 million), transportation and logistics (33.91 million), utilities (73.75 million), and business trusts (2.97 million). — Bernama
