BARGAIN HUNTING LIFTS BURSA MALAYSIA IN EARLY TRADE

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open higher on Tuesday as bargain hunting emerged after yesterday’s sell-off.

At 9.20 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) jumped 14.20 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 1,714.41 from Monday’s close of 1,700.21, after opening 4.02 points higher at 1,704.23.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers leading losers 419 to 156, while 306 counters were unchanged. A total of 1,743 counters were untraded, and 22 were suspended.

Turnover stood at 344.52 million shares worth RM196.95 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that amid global economic uncertainty, buying interest could be seen in the banking sector, particularly CIMB, supported by attractive dividend yields among large caps, which may buffer near-term volatility.

“Global insurers pulling out war-risk coverage for the Strait of Hormuz points to left-tail risks to crude oil supply. This could trigger another sharp spike in oil prices, from which upstream players may benefit,” it said in a research note today.

Among heavyweights, Maybank surged 14 sen to RM11.86, Public Bank added three sen to RM4.88, CIMB advanced 11 sen to RM8.05, TNB rose 12 sen to RM14.40, while SD Guthrie declined five sen to RM5.59.

On the most active list, Capital A increased 1.5 sen to 53.5 sen, VS Industry rose half-a-sen to 35 sen, Pharmaniaga added one sen to 29 sen, Pegasus Heights was flat at half-a-sen, while Bumi Armada eased half-a-sen to 34.5 sen.

Top gainers included Nestle, which improved by RM1.01 to RM108, Malaysian Pacific Industries, up 92 sen to RM31.92, UMS Integration, up 32 sen to RM4.92, and Hong Leong Industries, up 30 sen to RM17.84.

Top losers were United Plantations, down 16 sen to RM29.28, Petronas Chemicals, down nine sen to RM3.30, UMS Holdings, down six sen to RM1.90, and SD Guthrie, down five sen to RM5.59.

On the index board, the FBM T100 Index rose 98.45 points to 12,403.16, the FBM Emas Index gained 99.02 points to 12,580.02, the FBM 70 Index advanced 119.17 points to 17,433.18, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 75.05 points to 12,191.65, and the FBM ACE Index added 22.33 points to 4,631.33.

By sector, the Financial Services Index rose 207.13 points to 21,036.23, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.78 of-a-point to 172.17, the Energy Index gained 0.14 of-a-point to 778.31, and the Plantation Index fell 24.16 points to 8,172.40.

-- BERNAMA