BURSA Malaysia snapped a three-day losing streak to end higher today on persistent buying interest in financial services as well as industrial products and services counters, amid mixed sentiments on the regional markets, dealer said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.58% or 9.18 points to 1,586.14 from Tuesday’s close of 1,576.96.
The index, which opened 5.30 points firmer at 1,582.26, moved between 1,579.94 and 1,592.34 throughout the session.
The overall market breadth was positive with gainers overwhelming losers 621 to 372, while 402 counters were unchanged, 863 untraded, and 18 others suspended.
Total turnover dwindled to 2.97 billion units worth RM2.68 bil from 4.33 billion units worth RM3.16 bil on Tuesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional bourses were mixed despite the intensifying crisis surrounding Ukraine as investors viewed the United States sanctions on Russia as less-than-feared by the market.
On the domestic front, he said the FBM KLCI rebounded after three days of correction and it is likely to move upwards as buying from foreign funds are expected to resume, given the cheaper valuations of local equities as compared to regional peers.
“As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to move within the 1,580-1,590 range for the remainder of the week, with immediate resistance at 1,600 and support at 1,570,” he told Bernama.
Local heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB added 5 sen each to RM8.77 and RM5.55 respectively, Public Bank rose 2 sen to RM4.36, Petronas Chemicals gained 9 sen to RM9.23, and IHH Healthcare was unchanged at RM6.30.
As for the actives, DNeX expanded 9 sen to RM1.21, SMTrack eased 1.5 sen to 24 sen, MSM Malaysia dropped 23.5 sen to 88.5 sen, and MYEG put on 5 sen to 97 sen. – Feb 23, 2022
