Bursa Malaysia Ends Higher On Broad-based Buying

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s key index rebounded from yesterday’s losses to close higher on Thursday, driven by broad-based buying across multiple sectors.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 8.43 points, or 0.49 per cent, to close at 1,722.19 from Wednesday’s close of 1,713.76.

The benchmark index opened 3.0 points higher at 1,716.76, marking its intraday low, and hit a high of 1,726.75 during the midday session.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 576 to 550, while 563 counters were unchanged, 1,064 untraded, and 12 suspended.

Turnover declined to 3.68 billion units valued at RM2.80 billion from 4.07 billion units valued at RM2.84 billion on Wednesday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research Thong Pak Leng remains cautiously optimistic as the gradual return of foreign fund inflows continues to provide support to the local market.

“As such, we expect the FBM KLCI to maintain its positive momentum and gradually advance towards the 1,720-1,730 range by the end of the week, supported by selective buying interest in fundamentally strong large-cap stocks, particularly within the financial, plantation and selected industrial sectors,” he told Bernama.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said investor sentiment was underpinned by expectations that Malaysia’s second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP), scheduled for release tomorrow, will remain above the four per cent mark, reinforcing confidence in the country’s resilient economic expansion.

He said optimism was further supported by Wall Street’s overnight gains after softer US wholesale inflation and another round of strong bank earnings strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve could begin easing monetary policy later this year. 

Among heavyweights, Maybank jumped eight sen to RM11.04 and Public Bank rose 15 sen to RM5.20. Tenaga Nasional fell eight sen to RM14.30, CIMB was one sen weaker at RM7.70, and IHH Healthcare slipped nine sen to RM8.53.

As for the active stocks, Tanco added half a sen to 32 sen, Nationgate soared 20 sen to RM1.17, VS Industry perked up 1.5 sen to 23.5 sen, SFP Tech rose four sen to 34 sen, while HHRG slid two sen to 14.5 sen.

Of the top gainers, Nestle went up RM1.00 to RM93.00, United Plantations climbed 30 sen to RM35.00, Critical Holdings surged 24 sen to RM1.90, and Fraser & Neave put on 18 sen to RM29.28.

For top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries dipped 46 sen to RM45.28, UMS Integration decreased 28 sen to RM8.03, Hong Leong Industries shed 18 sen to RM18.42, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 14 sen to RM21.66.

Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 18.48 points to 12,521.27, the FBM 70 Index garnered 17.72 points to 17,903.50, and the FBM ACE Index edged up 3.36 points to 4,915.11.

The FBM Emas Index garnered 49.48 points to 12,699.22 and the FBMT 100 Index grew 49.09 points to 12,529.61.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index leapt 156.43 points to 20,310.82, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up to 1.18 points at 187.93, and the Plantation Index increased 34.81 points to 9,473.77, while the Energy Index eased 0.27 of a point to 769.89.

The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.85 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion compared with 2.30 billion units valued at RM2.50 billion on Wednesday.

Warrants turnover expanded to 1.21 billion units worth RM151.75 million versus 1.04 billion units worth RM140.74 million previously.

The ACE Market volume dwindled to 615.64 million units valued at RM191.99 million from 721.07 million units valued at RM193.18 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 146.45 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (453.34 million), construction (91.72 million), technology (354.99 million), financial services (92.18 million), property (379.92 million), plantation (38.77 million), real estate investment trusts (17.95 million), closed-end fund (296,300), energy (115.37 million), healthcare (43.47 million), telecommunications and media (19.82 million), transportation and logistics (33.09 million), utilities (63.14 million), and business trusts (4,100).

-- BERNAMA