Bursa Malaysia ends on firm note, in line with regional peers

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the week on a firm note, with buying support seen across the board, in tandem with regional peers, dealers said.

At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 6.50 points, or 0.41 per cent, higher at 1,607.29 compared with Thursday’s close of 1,600.79.

The barometer index opened 2.94 points better at 1,603.73 and moved between 1,599.20 and 1,608.11 throughout the day.

On the broader market, gainers surpassed decliners 535 to 396, while 436 counters were unchanged, 869 untraded and 16 others suspended.

Total turnover decreased to 2.93 billion units worth RM1.85 billion from 3.34 billion units worth RM2.54 billion on Thursday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vicepresident of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI continued its upward trajectory due to buying support in selected heavyweight counters, mainly banking, glove and telco stocks.

“The FBM KLCI trended in a tight consolidation mode throughout the week, however, it has managed to close above the 1,600 level for two trading days.

“We are cautiously optimistic given the improvement in the local market sentiment and foreign support but investors should stay alert due to the increasing market volatility and external uncertainties.

“As such, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend slightly higher, hovering within the 1,600 to 1,620 range for next week. From the technical point of view, immediate resistance is will seen at 1,625 and support at 1,580,” he told Bernama.

Asian key regional markets also ended in positive territory following the overnight positive performance on Wall Street, despite a choppy morning session due to lingering concerns over the war in Ukraine, Covid19 lockdowns in China, and the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive policy tightening plan, he added.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.29 per cent to 21,872.01, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.36 per cent to 26,985.80, and South Korea’s Kospi climbed up 0.17 per cent to 2,700.39 but Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 0.53 per cent to 3,386.11

Back home, market heavyweights Maybank gained two sen to RM8.85, Petronas Chemicals rose 12 sen to RM10.30, IHH Healthcare added four sen to RM6.45, while Public Bank and CIMB Group were flat at RM4.68 and RM5.35, respectively.

Of the actives, Brahim’s tumbled eight sen to 3.5 sen, YTL rose 10 sen to 77.5 sen, TWL added one sen to nine sen while Widad Group and Techna-X were flat at 36.5 sen and 9.5 sen, respectively.