LATE buying in selected plantation as well as consumer products and services counters managed to lift Bursa Malaysia from earlier losses to close mixed today, amid cautious sentiment in regional markets, dealers said.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.82 points to end at its intraday high of 1,608.50 compared to Tuesday’s close of 1,606.68.
The market bellwether opened 0.16 of-a-point lower at 1,606.52 and moved to as low as 1,597.79 during the early trading session.
Overall market breadth however remained negative as losers thumped gainers 587 versus 457, while 437 counters were unchanged, 711 untraded and 54 others suspended.
Total volume slipped to 6.59 billion shares worth RM3.85 bil from 7.17 billion shares worth RM5.07 bil on Tuesday.
A dealer said most investors remained on the sidelines ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting which will end later today.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to reaffirm that easy monetary policy will remain in place for a prolonged period and dismiss any suggestions of tapering bond purchases.
Investors expected that the Fed’s statement would be more positive on the outlook of the economy as compared to the March FOMC meeting, reflecting the ongoing pickup in data, the dealer added.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.21% to 29,053.97, China’s Hang Seng added 0.45% to 29,071.34, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index put on 0.12% to 3,218.44.
Back home, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Genting were among the top gainers, rising RM1 to RM22.80 and 16 sen to RM5.05 respectively.
Among other heavyweights, Maybank shed 1 sen to RM8.25, Top Glove erased 11 sen to RM5.67, Public Bank was flat at RM4.17, while Petronas Chemicals gained 26 sen to RM8.11 and TNB went up 2 sen to RM10.
As for the active counters, Focus Dynamics and Minda Global were both flat at 13 sen and 17.5 sen, respectively, Vortex Consolidated slipped 1 sen to 14 sen, while Sasbadi perked up 4.5 sen to 24.5 sen. – April 28, 2021
