BURSA Malaysia’s key index ended broadly higher as investors took the opportunity to hunt for bargains today, said an analyst.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) jumped 10.32 points, or 0.68%, to 1,539.34 from Wednesday’s close of 1,529.02.
The index, which opened 3.31 points higher at 1,532.33, moved between 1,531.18 and 1,539.73 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing decliners 625 to 419, while 423 counters were unchanged, 835 untraded, and five others suspended.
Turnover rose to 4.74 billion units worth RM3.54 bil from Wednesday’s 4.12 billion units worth RM3.16 bil.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng reckoned that the FBM KLCI continued to see some buying support from foreign funds.
“Nonetheless, market undertone remains cautious; hence we expect the benchmark index to remain stuck in a narrow trading range. We see the FBM KLCI hovering between the 1,540-1,550 range towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.
Key regional markets are also in the green following positive signs overnight from Wall Street’s performance and easing concerns about the impact of Evergrande Group’s debt issue.
Singapore’s Straits Times index jumped 1.12% to 3,083.71 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged 1.19% to 24,510.98, but Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.67% to 29,639.40.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose five sen to RM8.15, Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.06, Petronas Chemicals added three sen to RM8.08, TNB surged 18 sen to RM9.99, Digi was flat at RM4.46, and PPB fell two sen to RM18.30.
Of the actives, Dagang NeXchange jumped six sen to 83 sen, Bintai Kinden advanced 3.5 sen to 68.5 sen, Serba Dinamik edged up half-a-sen to 34 sen, KNM was flat at 23 sen, and TFP eased 3.5 sen to 12.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 71.72 points to 11,304.83, the FBMT 100 Index was 67.07 points higher at 11,004.53, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index chalked up 69.86 points to 12,313.53.
The FBM 70 surged 65.17 points to 14,972.10 while the FBM ACE gained 13.99 points to 7,121.54.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index went up 72.21 points to 6,346.93, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 1.63 points to 199.85, and the Financial Services Index picked up 117.50 points to 15,271.36. – Sept 23, 2021
