Bursa Malaysia ends firmer, bucks regional downtrend
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended on a firmer note on strong buying support in selected heavyweights, led by plantation and banking stocks, bucking the downtrend among regional peers.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 7.93 points higher at 1,604.72 compared with Tuesday’s close of 1,596.79.
The key index opened 0.67 of-apoint easier at 1,596.12 and moved between 1,595.19 and 1,605.50 throughout the day.
On the broader market, gainers thumped decliners 601 to 435, while 405 counters were unchanged, 795 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Total turnover decreased to 3.43 billion units worth RM2.47 billion from 3.87 billion units worth RM2.37 billion on Tuesday.
A dealer noted that Bursa Malaysia had stayed upbeat for the rest of the day, bucking the downtrend among regional peers.
“Key Asian markets took their cue from the weaker Wall Street after the United States Federal Reserves (US Fed) reiterated its more aggressive approach in tightening its monetary policy to tame inflation amidst the unresolved conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“Meanwhile, the reopening of borders and high commodity prices helped to support Malaysia’s economic recovery path,” he said.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vicepresident of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that the FBM KLCI trended higher today as bargain hunting emerged after two days of sell-downs, with buying interest mainly seen in plantation, oil and gas and banking heavyweights.
“If the FBM KLCI is able to sustain above the 1,600 mark for a longer period, the outlook of the benchmark index will be positive in the mid-term.
“We believe the benchmark index would stay in consolidation mode for the time being due to cautious sentiment, although foreign buying and bargain hunting activities may emerge as well.
“As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,5901.610 range for the remainder of the week,” he said.
He added that investors are now waiting for the release of minutes from the US Fed’s policy meeting slated later today for the latest insight on the US monetary policy and its plan to reduce the balance sheet.
Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.87 per cent to 22,080.52, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 1.58 per cent to 27,350.30, Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 0.64 per cent to 3,422.93 and South Korea’s Kospi eased 0.88 per cent to 2,735.03.
On the local front, heavyweights Maybank rose three sen to RM8.89, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.71, Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare rose 14 sen each to RM9.99 and RM6.39, respectively, while CIMB Group gained four sen to RM5.31.