KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — Bursa Malaysia traded higher on Monday, supported by renewed buying interest in selected banking and telecommunications heavyweights, an analyst said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 6.69 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 1,714.79, compared with Friday’s close of 1,708.10.
The benchmark index opened 1.60 points higher at 1,709.70 and fluctuated between 1,708.26 and 1,715.29 throughout the trading session.
The broader market, however, was negative with losers outpacing gainers 611 to 488, while 580 counters were unchanged, 1,109 untraded and 25 suspended.
Turnover declined to 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion from 4.33 billion units valued at RM2.98 billion on Friday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said major regional indices ended mixed after a weaker lead from Wall Street last Friday, although technology stocks remained resilient as renewed artificial intelligence optimism spurred demand for chipmakers.
Meanwhile, he said sentiment in China received some boost after Beijing announced a 360 billion yuan capital injection into state-owned banks and insurers, including 300 billion yuan to be funded through special Treasury bonds.
This came as the republic’s policymakers stepped up efforts to strengthen financial institutions and sustain credit growth.
“As for the local bourse, we remain cautious despite today’s positive close, given elevated crude oil prices and the rise in the United States 10-year Treasury yield,” he told Bernama.
Thong also said higher energy prices could keep global inflationary pressures elevated, while rising bond yields may continue to weigh on risk appetite as investors reassess the outlook for US interest rates.
Nevertheless, renewed buying in banking and telecommunications heavyweights, coupled with resilient domestic fundamentals, should provide some support to the benchmark index.
“Looking ahead, we expect the FBM KLCI to remain range-bound in the short term as investors balance supportive domestic factors against lingering external uncertainties.
“Attention will remain on developments in West Asia, movements in global bond yields and upcoming US inflation data for further clues on the Federal Reserve’s policy direction,” he said.
With buying interest likely to emerge on weakness but external headwinds limiting a stronger advance, Thong expects the FBM KLCI to trade within the 1,700-1,730 range this week.
Meanwhile, IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the local bourse’s resilience despite higher US Treasury yields suggested that domestic equities were less sensitive to the shift in US rate expectations, with investors favouring sectors supported by relatively resilient earnings and domestic demand.
“The broad-based gains also indicate that market strength was not confined to a single sector, providing a healthier backdrop for the index,” he added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank advanced 2.0 sen each to RM10.58 and RM5.00, respectively, CIMB was flat at RM8.00, Tenaga Nasional gained 22 sen to RM13.84, while IHH Healthcare fell 5.0 sen to RM7.90.
Among actives, Zetrix AI rose 1.5 sen to 27 sen, HHRG climbed 6.0 sen to 20.5 sen, Ingenieur Gudang slid 1.0 sen to 3.5 sen, while Key Asic added half a sen to 7.0 sen, and Capital A eased 2.0 sen to 29 sen.
Of the top gainers, Petronas Gas garnered 44 sen to RM17.70, Malaysian Pacific Indusries rose 42 sen to RM39.82, Kuala Lumpur Kepong increased 24 sen to RM22.50, while United Plantations and UMS Integration put on 14 sen each to RM32.20 and RM8.24, respectively.
Among the top losers, Nestle slipped 94 sen to RM93.90, Hong Leong Industries shed 22 sen to RM17.40, Allianz Malaysia slid 20 sen to RM21.38, while Hong Leong Financial and Petronas Dagangan slipped 18 sen each to RM18.82 and RM19.98, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM ACE Index jumped 40.84 points to 5,258.31, the FBM Emas Index gained 35.04 points to 12,660.49, while the FBMT 100 Index expanded 37.79 points to 12,467.05.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index grew 49.83 points to 12,410.53 and the FBM 70 Index improved 7.66 points to 17,776.86.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased 27.25 points to 20,188.74, and the Plantation Index leapt 50.76 points to 9,338.68, while the Industrial Products and Services Index was unchanged at 186.96, and the Energy Index ticked up 3.59 points to 809.21.
The Main Market volume decreased to 2.08 billion units valued at RM2.14 billion compared with 3.05 billion units worth RM2.69 billion on Friday.
Warrants turnover trimmed to 849.55 million units worth RM114.67 million versus 856.32 million units valued at RM132.80 million previously.
The ACE Market volume surged to 665.26 million units valued at RM196.54 million from 426.28 million units worth RM157.20 million on Friday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 288.70 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (350.98 million), construction (111.44 million), technology (893.19 million), financial services (57.07 million), property (91.34 million), plantation (35.80 million), real estate investment trusts (13.20 million), closed-end fund (29,200), energy (70.39 million), healthcare (72.32 million), telecommunications and media (25.74 million), transportation and logistics (42.16 million), utilities (35.67 million), and business trusts (103,800). — Bernama
