BURSA Malaysia ended slightly higher today on bargain hunting in selected heavyweights amid cautious trading, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.89 points to 1,482.81 from 1,480.92 at Tuesday’s close.
The index, which opened 0.93 of-a-point better at 1,481.85, moved between 1,475.37 and 1,484.63 throughout the trading session.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 442 to 418, while 424 counters were unchanged, 1,033 untraded, and 20 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 2.82 billion units valued at RM1.74 bil from Tuesday’s 2.68 billion units valued at RM1.78 bil.
A dealer said the local bourse opened higher on bargain hunting after experiencing heavy sell-off yesterday, but turned easier from mid-morning until the end of the morning session as selling in heavyweights emerged, led by telecommunication stocks, which weighed on the barometer index.
“In the afternoon session, the market saw buying intersperse with selling in selected heavyweights, keeping the market in range-bound trading before ending on a positive note,” he noted.
Asian markets were mixed today amid cautious sentiment as investors considered the impact of the Omicron variant on global economic recovery, while awaiting the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) announcement on interest rates for market direction. The US central bank is holding its meeting on Dec 14-15.
“The Fed is highly anticipated by investors to accelerate its timetable for reducing bond purchases and start raising interest rates, especially with inflation remaining at an elevated rate,” he told Bernama.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.10% to 28,459.72, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index decreased 0.91% to 23,420.76, South Korea’s Kospi improved 0.05% to 2,989.39, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 0.25% to 3,113.17.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank added one sen each to RM8.10 and RM4.01 respectively, Tenaga increased six sen to RM9.29, IHH Healthcare slid two sen to RM6.48, while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.61.
Of the actives, ATA IMS rose 14.5 sen to 69.5 sen, Pasukhas shed one sen to 2.5 sen, Kanger eased half-a-sen to two sen, while BCM Alliance and Pemaju Industries were flat at 2.5 sen and four sen, respectively. – Dec 15, 2021
