BARGAIN-hunting and window-dressing activities particularly in glove and banking stocks lifted Bursa Malaysia to end higher today, with the benchmark index gaining 1.15%.
As at 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) surged 17.46 points to end at 1,533.91 compared with 1,516.45 at Friday’s close.
The index opened 0.92 of-a-point higher at 1,517.37 and moved between 1,515.10 and 1,535.93 throughout the day.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 486 to 335, while 424 counters were unchanged,1,065 untraded, and 14 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 2.21 billion units valued at RM1.36 bil from Friday’s 1.88 billion units valued at RM911.77 mil.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the company reckoned that some bargain-hunting and window-dressing activities would continue given the cheap valuations of the local market as compared to regional peers.
“On the other hand, we shall remain cautious given the heightened market volatility across the region as some investors are still cautious as uncertainty over the economic impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant weighed on investor sentiment.
“Other regional markets such as Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines were positive but gains were capped as China and Japan faced prospects of tighter curbs amid rising COVID-19 cases,” he told Bernama.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.37% to 28,676.46, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.13% to 23,223.76, Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 0.13% to 3,104.24, and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.43% to 2,999.55.
Among the banking heavyweights, Maybank added 5 sen to RM8.30, Public Bank and CIMB rose 3 sen each to RM4.15 and RM5.39, respectively, and Hong Leong Bank was 16 sen higher at RM18.66.
Other heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals advanced 8 sen to RM8.85 and IHH was 9 sen higher at RM6.66, Tenaga added 10 sen to RM9.31, and PMetal increased 12 sen to RM5.65.
Of the actives, XOX and AT Systematization were both flat at 3 sen and 3.5 sen respectively, SMTrack perked up half-a-sen to 14 sen, and ATA IMS dipped 5.5 sen to 65.5 sen.
For rubber-related stocks, Top Glove added 17 sen to RM2.36, KL Kepong added 20 sen to RM21.62, and Rubberex added 1.5 sen to 53 sen. – Dec 27, 2021
