Bursa Malaysia ends higher after choppy session

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended on a high note, gaining 0.35 per cent, after recording choppy trading particularly in the latter half of the day as markets focused on the outcome of the US mid-term congressional elections.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was higher at 1,714.88, up 6.08 points, from Monday’s close of 1,708.80. The index opened 3.91 points higher at 1,712.71 and moved between 1,704.93 and 1,715.98 throughout the day.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing losers 440 to 378, while 369 were unchanged, 666 untraded and 19 others suspended. Volume was slightly higher at 2.32 billion units worth RM2.5 billion units from 2.2 billion valued at RM3.28 billion recorded Monday.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the market reaction in Asia was still quite mixed.

“Perhaps the markets are still digesting the potential impact from the mid-term elections.

“We believe it should be good for the markets since decisions on trade-related matters will not be easily passed by the congressmen, especially Democrats,” he told Bernama.

According to reports, the Democrats have regained control of the House of Representatives while the Republicans retained their majority seats in Senate, which is expected to create a more balanced decision-making process with more checks and balances between the two houses.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank gave up 10 sen to RM9.28, PBBank and Tenaga added two sen each to RM24.60andRM14.82,respectively, while PChem and CIMB were both flat at RM9.70 and RM5.68, respectively.

The most active stock, SapNRG, gained 1.5 sen to 37 sen, followed by Dsonic and GENM, which were both three sen higher at 48 sen and RM3.64 respectively, while PresBhd declined five sen to 71.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index accumulated 82.38 points to 12,065.48 while the FBM Emas Index added 54.25 points to 11,894.02 and the FBM Ace Index was 31.55 points better at 4,984.66.

The FBMT 100 Index climbed 53.20 points to 11,736.15 and the FBM 70 soared 107.91 points to 13,909.0.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index erased 30.10 points to 7,371.36, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.14 of-a-point stronger at 174.67 while the Financial Services Index erased 19.83 points to 17,231.47

Main Market volume improved slightly to 1.64 billion units worth RM2.34 billion from 1.51 billion units valued at RM3.16 billion registered on Monday.

Warrants turnover slipped to 380.09 million units valued at RM94.92 million from 417.0 million units worth RM72.80 million transacted previously.

Volume on the ACE Market was higher at 304.01 million shares worth RM61.03 million from 294.28 million shares worth RM47.2 million.

Consumer products and services accounted for 253.26 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (229.37 million), construction (92.67 million), technology (301.45 million), SPAC (882,800), financial services (41.38 million), property (73.87 million), plantations (21.22 million), REITs (6.74 million), closed/fund (28,400), energy (454.77 million), healthcare (36.1 million), telecommunication and media (56.95 million), transportation and logistics (41.17 million), and utilities (27.26 million).

For further information on stocks and prices, please visit www.bursamalaysia.com.