Late Buying Of Blue Chips Lifts Bursa Malaysia Out Of Red

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia managed to pare earlier losses to close mixed on Thursday, with the key index lifted by late buying in selected heavyweight stocks, led by financial services counters.

Maybank and Public Bank led the gains, rising eight sen and four sen, respectively, to RM10.54 and RM4.57, contributing 2.94 points to the local benchmark index.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ticked up 2.24 points, or 0.14 per cent, settling at 1,641.55 from Wednesday’s close. The market bellwether opened 1.39 points higher at 1,640.70 and hovered between 1,630.45 and 1,643.82 throughout the trading session.

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On the broader market, however, decliners outpaced gainers 504 to 473, with 545 counters unchanged, 890 untraded and nine suspended. Turnover slipped to 3.29 billion units valued at RM2.52 billion from Wednesday's 3.86 billion units worth RM2.73 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse, initially pressured by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, recovered as investors hunted for bargains.

“Late bargain hunting in banking, gaming and energy stocks helped lift the FBM KLCI. Investors found value in selected counters, taking advantage of attractive stock valuations. Despite global uncertainties, market sentiment improved towards the end of the session, leading to renewed buying interest,” he told Bernama.

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Thong said the local equity market is expected to maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook. “With undemanding valuations and improving economic conditions, further bargain hunting is likely. We anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,630 to 1,645 range towards the weekend with immediate resistance at 1,670 and support at 1,635,” he added.

Mohd Sedek Jantan, the head of investment research at UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors, noted that despite growing enthusiasm among investors regarding China's latest stimulus measures, their long term effectiveness remains in question. “Given the lacklustre outcomes of prior fiscal measures, concerns about the sustainability of the impact (of the latest stimulus) on the market are justified. Additionally, with the Chinese stock market closed for the Golden Week holiday this week, response to the latest stimulus package announced on Wednesday can only be assessed next week,” he said.

Among other heavyweight stocks, CIMB Group added one sen to RM7.99, Petronas Chemicals gained seven sen to RM5.77 and Tenaga Nasional slipped 2.0 sen to RM14.28. IHH Healthcare and Hong leong Bank were flat at RM7.24 and RM21.30, respectively.

Of the active stocks, Talam Transform eased half-a-sen to 2.0 sen, Capital A fell 2.5 sen to 91 sen, MYeG dropped one sen to 88 sen and Focus Dynamics was flat at 2.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 3.62 points to 12,269.77, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 22.73 points to 12,181.40 and the FBMT 100 Index added 2.27 points to 11,963.29. The FBM 70 Index erased 49.10 points to 17,296.23 while the FBM ACE Index lost 10.07 points to 5,115.75.

By sector, the Plantation Index advanced 9.52 points to 7,181.57, the Industrial Products and Services earned 0.64 of-a-point to 176.82 while the Energy Index was 6.71 points better at 857.81. The Financial Services Index jumped 96.21 points to 19,261.05.

The Main Market volume declined to 1.41 billion units worth RM2.22 billion from Wednesday's 1.68 billion units worth RM2.34 billion.

Warrant turnover narrowed to 1.56 billion units valued at RM216.43 million from 1.76 billion units valued at RM280.83 million previously.

The ACE Market volume rose to 306.83 million units worth RM77.76 million from 413.31 million units worth RM102.63 million.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 313.66 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (209.43 million), construction (182.59 million), technology (143.55 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (96.31 million), property (207.45 million), plantation (27.46 million), REITs (7.78 million), closed/fund (18.100), energy (68.23 million), healthcare (44.33 million), telecommunications and media (21.23 million), transportation and logistics (30.23 million), utilities (58.26 million), and business trusts (551,600 million).

-- BERNAMA