BURSA Malaysia ended higher today on buying support in selected heavyweights led by Maybank and Top Glove, in line with positive performance in regional markets, on favourable outlook of the global economic recovery.
The two counters contributed combined 2.92 points to the decline in the barometer index, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.73 points or 0.52% to end at 1,500.32 compared with 1,492.59 at Tuesday’s close.
The index opened 0.15 of-a-point higher at 1,492.74 and fluctuated between 1,492.74 and 1,502.19 throughout the day.
On the broader market, gainers thumped losers 450 to 347, while 445 counters were unchanged, 1,058 untraded, and 15 others suspended.
Turnover rose to 3.12 billion units valued at RM1.60 bil from Tuesday’s 2.45 billion units worth RM1.67 bil.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Malaysian equities ended higher due to bargain-hunting in selected heavyweights such as glove, banks and gaming.
“Key regional indices also trended higher following overnight gains on Wall Street. Nonetheless, investors remain cautious, assessing the risk and impact of the Omicron virus strain.
“As for the local bourse, we reckon investor sentiment to remain jittery, hence, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend in range bound and hovering within the 1,490-1,505 range for the remaining of the week.
“Based on technical analysis, we shall see immediate resistance at 1,515 while support at 1,475,” he told Bernama.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.16% to 28,562.21, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.57% to 23,102.33, Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 0.12% to 3,081.31, and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.32% to 2,984.48.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose eight sen to RM8.22, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare gained two sen each to RM4.10 and RM6.55, CIMB advanced five sen to RM5.38, while Petronas Chemicals declined two sen to RM8.77.
Of the actives, ATA IMS added 2.5 sen to 71.5 sen, while Fintec Global, Pasukhas and DGB Asia were flat at one sen, two sen and three sen, respectively. – Dec 22, 2021
