Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said bargain-hunting activities emerged in the local bourse today, taking cue from key regional indices which also finished higher following positive leads from Wall Street overnight.
“Market sentiment improved as investors gained confidence that the US Federal Reserve could lower interest rates next month,” he told Bernama.
On the domestic front, Thong noted that the longer-term structure of the benchmark index remains constructive, having formed a steady base since mid-year.
“If global sentiment improves, particularly regarding the technology sector and US macro expectations, Malaysia’s defensive earnings profile and reasonable valuations could attract greater foreign inflows,” he said.
“As for now, we anticipate the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to trend within the range of 1,610-1,640 for the remainder of the week, representing the support and resistance levels,” he added.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 12.76 points, or 0.79% to 1,624.50 from yesterday’s close of 1,611.74.
The barometer index, which opened 4.39 points higher at 1,616.13, slipped to a low of 1,614.41 during the morning session but regained its footing to hit a high of 1,624.97 in late trading.
However, the broader market was negative, with decliners outpacing gainers 608 to 517. A total of 563 counters were unchanged, 1,113 untraded and 82 suspended.
Turnover slid to 3.87 billion units worth RM2.98 billion from 4.39 billion units worth RM2.82 billion yesterday.
Among heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM9.98, Public Bank garnered 8 sen to RM4.38, CIMB climbed 13 sen to RM7.60, Tenaga Nasional added 2 sen to RM13.12, and IHH rose 3 sen to RM8.07.
On the most active list, Aizo fell 1.5 sen to 5.5 sen, Tanco added 1 sen to RM1.09, D&O Green Tech tumbled 21.5 sen to 87.5 sen, while TWL and Malayan United Industries were unchanged at 2.5 sen and 5.5 sen respectively.
Of the top gainers, Hong Leong Industries jumped 64 sen to RM14.98, Allianz went up 46 sen to RM18.54, Telekom Malaysia climbed 27 sen to RM7.61, Chin Teck rose 24 sen to RM11 and Hong Leong Bank put on 22 sen to RM21.50.
Among the top losers, KL Kepong lost 44 sen to RM20.60, Malaysian Pacific Industries slipped 24 sen to RM32.80, Nestle and KESM dipped 20 sen each to RM109.80 and RM3.06 respectively and Greatech sank 15 sen to RM1.64.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 63.13 points to 12,049.48, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 35.17 points to 12,000.69, and the FBMT 100 Index advanced 72.82 points to 11,829.25.
The FBM ACE Index decreased 20.60 points to 4,889.77, while the FBM Mid 70 Index went up 16.98 points to 16,963.78.
Sector-wise, the financial services index soared 181.26 points to 18,650.26, the industrial products and services index perked up 1.17 points to 164.72, while the plantation index trimmed 33.10 points to 8,199.12 and the energy index eased 5.03 points to 755.29.
The Main Market volume improved to 1.71 billion units worth RM2.55 billion from 1.52 billion units worth RM2.27 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover shrank to 1.82 billion units worth RM311.62 million, versus 2.45 billion units worth RM419.16 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume slid to 341.68 million units valued at RM118.34 million against 428.17 million units valued at RM134.95 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 347.49 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (394.99 million), construction (144.12 million), technology (245.85 million), financial services (68.94 million), property (191.45 million), plantation (42.77 million), real estate investment trusts (21.11 million), closed-end fund (800), energy (70.05 million), healthcare (59.33 million), telecommunications and media (52.26 million), transportation and logistics (36.41 million), utilities (36.37 million) and business trusts (951,700).