BURSA Malaysia closed higher on Wednesday, thanks to buying support in selected heavyweights led by rubber glove makers, Top Glove and Hartalega, amid concerns over the new IHU COVID-19 variant.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 6.05 points to end the day at 1,547.95 compared with Tuesday’s closing of 1,541.90.
The index, which opened 0.51 of-a-point better at 1,542.41, moved between 1,540.24 and 1,549.53 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers trouncing losers 659 to 346, while 384 counters were unchanged, 884 untraded, and 15 others suspended.
Trading was brisk, with turnover surging to 4.49 billion units worth RM1.96 bil from 3.51 billion units valued at RM1.93 bil yesterday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said fresh concerns over the IHU variant, which reportedly has more mutations than Omicron, had bolstered sentiment among rubber glove stocks.
Top Glove jumped 11 sen or 4.72% to RM2.44, Hartalega soared 23 sen (4.17%) to RM5.75, Supermax climbed 7 sen (4.86%) to RM1.51, and Kossan advanced 9 sen (4.81%) to RM1.96.
Mohd Afzanizam said sentiment was also weighed by the sharp increase in the United States Treasury yields, whereby the yield on the 10-year note rose three basis points to 1.66%.
The hike implied that the bond market participants are anticipating that interest rate hike in the US is almost imminent and it’s just the matter of when and by how much, he said.
“Typically, rising interest rate environment may not bode well for the equities market in the short-term given the uncertainty over the timing and the size of the rate hike.
“Otherwise, rising interest rate should be interpreted as the economy is healing, thereby excessive monetary policy accommodation would need to be removed,” he told Bernama.
Mohd Afzanizam said market players need to endure the volatility for the time being until further clarity when the Federal Reserve reconvenes on Jan 25-26.
He said the FBM KLCI’s current support and resistant levels stand at 1,533.82 and 1,564.80 respectively, citing there could be upside potential in the near term.
“But for now, the index is expected to remain sideways in the near term,” he added.
Among the heavyweights, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare rose four sen each to RM4.17 and RM6.86 respectively, CIMB bagged five sen to RM5.47, while Maybank slipped one sen to RM8.35 and Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.78.
Of the actives, Key Alliance, XOX and Pasukhas were flat at 1.5 sen, 3 sen and 2.5 sen respectively, SMTrack inched up half-a-sen to 26 sen, while Dagang NeXchange perked up 1.5 sen to 84 sen. – Jan 5, 2022
