BURSA Malaysia settled at its intra-day high after trading range-bound throughout the day as investors collected some oversold stocks following the recent sell-down.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose six points, or 0.38%, to 1,577.82 from 1,571.82 at Monday’s close.
The key index opened 2.82 points lower at 1,569.0 and moved between 1,567.37 and 1,577.82 throughout the day.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 582 to 464, while 413 counters were unchanged, 743 untraded and 32 others suspended.
Total volume shrank to 6.33 billion units worth RM3.84 bil against 6.75 billion units worth RM3.47 bil yesterday.
Despite the firmer performance, Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd head of research Victor Wan said market players remained uncertain about the economic and market outlook after a fresh high of 7,289 new COVID-19 cases were reported today.
“Along with the slow vaccine roll-out, investors are still lacking confidence in the market.
“They also remained uneasy about what would happen after the Movement Control Order 3.0 is over on June 7,” he told Bernama.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah tweeted today that the number of new cases of COVID-19 in Malaysia spiked to 7,289 over the past 24 hours, the highest figure ever recorded since the pandemic began in January last year.
Among the 30 FBM KLCI constituents, gains were led by Press Metal Aluminum Holdings Bhd which strengthened nine sen to RM5.21, followed by Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd which increased eight sen to RM8.00.
DiGi.Com Bhd was 12 sen higher at RM4.27, Sime Darby Bhd accumulated eight sen to RM2.28 while Dialog Group Bhd improved seven sen to RM2.95.
Of the actives, Progressive Impact Corporation Bhd bagged five sen to 19 sen, Kanger International Bhd was one sen better at 10 sen, Sasbadi Holdings Bhd perked 2.5 sen to 24 sen, while Ucrest Bhd slipped 2.5 sen to 41 sen and Privasia Technology Bhd was unchanged at 26 sen.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd (MPI) which surged 52 sen to RM37.68. Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd and Widetech (M) Bhd rose 44 sen each to RM21.60 and RM3.21 respectively, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT) grew 32 sen to RM15.96 and Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd was 30 sen firmer at RM17.00.
Top losers were led by Nestle (M) Bhd, giving up 50 sen to RM135.30, while BLD Plantation Bhd declined 47 sen to RM9.01, Hartalega Holdings Bhd lost 25 sen to RM9.23, Greatech Technology Bhd erased 17 sen to RM5.25 and Kumpulan H&L High-Tech Bhd was 15 sen lower at RM2.09. – May 25, 2021
