KL shares end higher amid cautious regional sentiment

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares on Bursa Malaysia finished the first trading day of February in positive territory as bargain hunting emerged following the selldown on Tuesday despite a cautious market undertone in the region, a dealer said.

At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.30 points to 1,489.80 from Tuesday’s close of 1,485.50.

The key index opened 3.32 points stronger at 1,488.82 and moved between 1,485.90 and 1,493.21 throughout the session.

Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 681 to 341, while 371 counters were unchanged, 780 untraded and 11 others suspended.

Turnover expanded to 5.14 billion units worth RM2.95 billion against Tuesday’s 4.03 billion units worth RM2.78 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vicepresident of equity research Thong Pak Leng said, despite the cautious market undertone in the region, buying in the local market is expected to continue given the cheap valuations of local stocks and persistent support from local institutions.

“At present, the benchmark index is trading at around 13 times the price-earnings ratio as compared with its five-year average of around 18 times, hence the market still offers potential upsides.

“As such, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,490 to 1,500 level towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.

Globally, the key regional indices ended mixed as the US economic data gave a mixed picture of the nation’s job market, a factor in inflation expectations, while the US manufacturing sector contracted for the third consecutive month in January.

“Moreover, investors are expecting a hawkish stance on policy rates by the European Central Bank as the inflation rate in Europe is still roaring higher,” Thong added.

The key regional indices were mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 adding 0.20 per cent to 27,402.05, South Korea’s Kospi ticked up 0.78 per cent to 2,468.88, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.52 per cent to 21,958.36, and Singapore’s Strait Times Index slid 0.41 per cent to 3,363.68.

Back home, gainers among heavyweights were led by Digi, which rose nine sen to RM4.30, Press Metal and Sime Darby Plantation garnered 12 sen each to RM5.30 and RM4.45, respectively, while Maybank lost two sen to RM8.72, and Public Bank shed three sen to RM4.10.

As for the actives, Hong Seng added 1.5 sen to 21.5 sen and its warrants were unchanged at two sen, Velesto Energy perked up 2.5 sen to 25.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange climbed 3.0 sen to 68.5 sen, while Borneo Oil and Sapura Energy were flat at two sen and five sen, respectively.