KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Bursa Malaysia closed higher on Wednesday, outperforming some regional peers as renewed weakness in global technology stocks and escalating tensions in West Asia prompted investors to rotate into more defensive and domestically oriented markets.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.46 points to 1,678.96 from Tuesday’s close of 1,675.50.
The benchmark index opened 0.55 of a point higher at 1,676.05 and traded between 1,673.64 and 1,684.10 throughout the session.
In the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 705 to 422, while 521 counters were unchanged, 1,042 untraded and 14 suspended.
Turnover expanded to 3.97 billion units worth RM2.73 billion from 3.76 billion units worth RM2.90 yesterday.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said while North Asian equity markets ended lower amid continued pressure on technology and semiconductor counters, the FBM KLCI benefitted from its relatively low exposure to the technology sector and high concentration in financial services stocks.
“The rebound in banking heavyweights provided support to the benchmark index, reinforcing Bursa Malaysia’s defensive characteristics during periods of heightened global risk aversion.
“Investor sentiment remained cautious ahead of key United States inflation data later tonight, although the local market continued to attract selective buying interest as investors sought shelter in fundamentally resilient sectors with stable earnings visibility,” he told Bernama.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said investors returned to accumulate selected stocks after the recent correction.
“Across the region, sentiment turned cautious as oil prices surged following renewed military exchanges between the US and Iran.
“On the domestic front, sentiment remains tense as losers continued to outpace gainers by a wide margin. We remain cautious given the unresolved geopolitical tensions and the potential impact of higher crude oil prices on global inflation and interest rate expectations,” he added.
Thong said investors are likely to remain selective amid persistent foreign selling and the lack of strong market catalysts while market direction in the near term will continue to be influenced by developments in West Asia, movements in crude oil prices and the broader global risk environment.
“For the remainder of the week, we expect the FBM KLCI to remain range-bound with a cautious undertone, trading within the 1,670–1,690 range as investors balance attractive valuations against elevated geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties,” he said.
Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank gained six sen to RM10.68, Public Bank was up three sen to RM4.80, Tenaga Nasional added eight sen to RM14.22, CIMB accumulated three sen to RM7.40 while IHH erased three sen to RM8.67 and Press Metal lost six sen to RM8.90.
Among the active stocks, Hong Seng Consolidated was down half a sen to one sen, Zetrix gained two sen to 84.5 sen, VS Industry was one sen better at 21 sen, SFP Tech shed 2.5 sen to 30 sen and Capital A was down 1.5 sen to 40 sen.
As for the top gainers, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 36 sen to RM20.48, Allianz Malaysia was 16 sen better at RM20.96, VSTecs added 15 sen to RM1.98, LPI Capital gained 14 sen to RM15.24 and Petronas Chemicals was up 13 sen to RM5.58.
Among the top losers, Concrete Engineering was 95 sen lower at RM3.95, Nestle erased 66 sen to RM93.78, Fraser and Neave was 52 sen lower at RM25.78, Ajinomoto lost 40 sen to RM15.08 and KESM shed 32 sen to RM3.73.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index firmed by 4.52 points to 12,456.48, the FBM Top 100 Index climbed 10.22 points to 12,302.22, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 18.89 points to 12,416.49.
The FBM Mid 70 Index dropped 49.88 points to 17,951.89, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 67.03 points to 4,660.65.
By sector, the Financial Services Index recovered 85.53 points to 19,582.41, the Industrial Products and Services Index perked up 0.15 of a point to 196.83 and the Energy Index slid 8.86 points to 778.77, but the Plantation Index gained 51.77 points to 8,794.22.
Main Market volume expanded to 2.45 billion units valued at RM2.40 billion from 2.22 billion units valued at RM2.57 billion yesterday.
Warrants rose to 1.06 billion units valued at RM170.17 million from 997.45 million units valued at RM155.37 million previously.
ACE Market volume shrank to 453.18 million worth RM151.41 million from 550.14 million worth RM171.11 million
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 241.63 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services (300.21 million), construction (170.76 million), technology (1.18 billion), financial services (67.23 million), property (170.23 million), plantation (34.01 million), real estate investment trusts (28.92 million), closed-end funds (57,400), energy (55.75 million), healthcare (104.88 million), telecommunications and media (31.72 million), transportation and logistics (21.0 million), utilities (43.39 million), and business trusts (1,100). — Bernama
