Banking heavyweights lead Bursa rebound
Maybank, CIMB and Public Bank lead charge by heavyweights
BURSA Malaysia, lifted by banking stocks, staged another steady rebound yesterday to retrace some lost grounds, especially the 3.17 per cent loss on Wednesday.
Dealers said blue chips ended the first day of June on a firmer note as local fund buying of banks’ shares helped shore up the key index for the second day in a row.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 0.9 per cent, or 15.76 points, to close at 1,756.38 yesterday, extending its recovery following a 21.34-point rise to 1,740.62 points on Thursday. On Wednesday, the index fell 56.56 points to 1,719.28.
Market breadth also remained positive as advancers beat decliners 560 to 377, while 381 stocks flatlined.
The charge by banking heavyweights was led by Malayan Banking Bhd, Public Bank Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.
Maybank perked 38 sen to RM10.04, Public Bank rose 14 sen to RM24 and CIMB added 20 sen to RM6.10.
Sin stocks like British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (rose 58 sen), Heineken Malaysia Bhd (gained 52 sen) and Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd (rose 44 sen) were among the outperformers at yesterday’s close.
An analyst said investors continued to display trading confidence even as the government unveiled economic policies with each passing day, adding that the government was more clear and transparent in communicating on what it was working on.
“There were some fear in the offset when Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over, but given the amount of press conferences and media briefings that were taking place, it is clear that this government is more transparent in its policymaking,” he said.’
“There will always be uncertainties in the market, but for now, investors believe in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s premiership, as they should, given that he was prime minister for 22 years before this.”
Dr Mahathir had earlier yesterday reaffirmed that Malaysia would remain business-friendly towards all, without any bias, and even encouraged India to invest in Malaysia during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit.
In a recent interview, Pelaburan Mara chief executive officer Datuk Nazim Rahman said Dr Mahathir’s reputation as well as PH manifesto, which stated that contracts or projects would go through an open tender system and to favour local players, would continue to evoke investor confidence.
“While we acknowledge that markets may ease off and turn increasingly volatile in the near term in light of these election results, we think market conditions over mid to longer term will remain encouraging, underpinned by improving global growth and earnings,” he said.
Meanwhile, the US$142 billion (RM565.16 billion) asset manager said the ringgit was set to bounce back in anticipation of foreign funds returning to emerging markets.
The ringgit, together with other Asian currencies such as the rupee and rupiah, would regain favour among investors.
The ringgit was traded slightly higher against the US dollar yesterday, partly due to external uncertainties that led to weakness in emerging markets.
At 6pm yesterday, the local unit was quoted at 3.977/3.980 against the US dollar, compared with 3.978/3.982 previously.