Bursa Malaysia ends higher in line with regional peers

KUALA LUMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended higher in tandem with the positive performance of regional bourses as investors look to the January US Consumer Price Index (CPI) for clues to the interest-rate path.

At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI went up 8.80 points to 1,483.97 compared with Monday’s close of 1,475.17.

The market bellwether opened 1.96 points better at 1,477.13 and moved between 1,476.06 and 1,485.58 throughout the session.

However, the market breadth remained negative as decliners led gainers 430 to 428, while 441 counters were unchanged, 888 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover decreased to 3.20 billion units worth RM2.16 billion against Monday’s 3.69 billion units worth RM2.05 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vicepresident of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices are mostly in positive territory following positive global equities overnight.

As for the local bourse, he said the market is cautiously optimistic given the improvement in local market sentiment and the return of foreign funds.

“Nonetheless, investors should be wary of the increasing volatility of both regional and global equity markets.

“As such, we expect the FBM KLCI to continue its sideway pattern trending within the 1,4701,490 range for the remainder of the week with immediate resistance at 1,500 and support at 1,460,” he said.

The US CPI data set for release yesterday will determine the Federal Reserve’s decision for further monetary policy tightening.

Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank gained 3.0 sen to RM8.80, Petronas Chemicals added 7.0 sen to RM8.15 and Tenaga Nasional rose 2.0 sen to RM9.93.

Both Public Bank and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM4.19 and RM5.90 respectively.

As for active stocks, MYEG increased 2.0 sen to 62.5 sen, Hong Seng went up 1.0 sen to 21 sen, Betamek was 5.5 sen higher at 59 sen, while Sapura Energy and Pesona Metro were each down 1.0 sen to 4.5 sen and 29 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index soared 53.99 points to 10,787.76, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 53.84 points to 10,457.41 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 90.61 points to 11,111.88.

The FBM 70 Index added 34.71 points to 13,575.14 and the FBM ACE Index climbed up 16.31 points to 5,691.67.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index went up 5.54 points to 16,156.50, the Plantation Index widened 77.67 points to 6,916.54 and the Industrial Products and Services Index grew 1.53 points to 189.53.