BURSA MALAYSIA REBOUNDS TO END AT INTRADAY HIGH ON BARGAIN HUNTING, CI UP 1.32 PCT

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia snapped two days of losses to end at its intraday high today, with the composite index gaining 1.32 per cent, driven by bargain hunting following the recent heavy sell-off. 

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) jumped 20.68 points to 1,588.71 from Tuesday's close of 1,568.03. 

The market bellwether opened 1.76 points easier at 1,566.27 and subsequently hit an intraday low of 1,565.46 before moving in a upward trajectory towards closing. 

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 534 to 471, while 473 counters were unchanged, 898 untraded, and 36 suspended.

Turnover declined to 2.81 billion units worth RM2.47 billion from 3.14 billion units worth RM2.64 billion on Tuesday. 

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the market recovery suggests that the previous sell-off was driven by panic and short-term sentiment rather than any fundamental deterioration in Malaysia’s economic or corporate outlook. 

"The lack of spillover from Wall Street’s overnight weakness further reinforces the view that local investors are distinguishing domestic fundamentals from broader global uncertainties, signalling a stabilisation in market sentiment.

"Today’s broad-based rebound across sectors further underscores the resilience of Malaysian equities, highlighting that the recent downturn was largely a reactionary move rather than a structural shift. This suggests that investors may be recalibrating their positions as confidence gradually returns," he told Bernama. 

However, for this momentum to be sustained, the FBM KLCI must decisively break above the 1,590 resistance level, said Mohd Sedek. 

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said most key regional indices also rebounded on improved sentiment. 

"The Hang Seng Index posted strong gains, driven by optimism surrounding DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence (AI) advancements, which bolstered confidence in China’s technological progress. 

"Meanwhile, investors are closely monitoring Nvidia’s earnings announcement today to gauge the strength and sustainability of the AI trade," he said.

On the local market, Thong maintained a cautious stance in the short term despite today’s gains amid persistent foreign selling. 

As such, he expects the benchmark index to trade sideways with an upward bias and adjusted the FBM KLCI weekly target to 1,570-1,600. 

Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank gained 24 sen to RM10.70, CIMB added five sen to RM8.28, Public Bank bagged nine sen to RM4.55, Tenaga Nasional jumped 18 sen to RM13.58, while IHH Healthcare eased one sen to RM7.30. 

As for active stocks, Ingenieur Gudang inched down half-a-sen to four sen, SFP Tech and My E.G. Services fell 2.5 sen each to 32 sen and 95 sen, respectively, Datasonic gave up two sen to 27.5 sen, while Leong Hup International rose 2.0 sen to 63 sen.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index soared 127.97 points to 11,884.27, the FBMT 100 Index surged 135.04 points to 11,639.05, the FBM Emas Shariah Index garnered 97.70 points to 11,532.58, and the FBM 70 Index increased 131.72 points to 17,003.34, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 9.71 points to 4,798.89.

By sector, the Financial Services Index jumped 331.94 points to 19,477.55, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.69 of-a-point to 159.39, the Plantation Index was 59.46 points firmer at 7,542.06, and the Energy Index improved 8.22 points to 762.62. 

The Main Market volume slid to 1.58 billion units worth RM2.23 billion from 1.74 billion units worth RM2.40 billion on Tuesday. 

Warrants turnover decreased to 818.87 million units worth RM100.62 million against 941.25 million units worth RM98.24 million previously.

The ACE Market volume narrowed to 414.92 million units valued at RM138.96 million versus 454.78 million units valued at RM145.01 million yesterday. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 218.81 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (451.36 million), construction (106.48 million), technology (235.53 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (95.74 million), property (146.68 million), plantation (26.76 million), REITs (14.02 million), closed/fund (18,000), energy (113.31 million), healthcare (63.55 million), telecommunications and media (32.84 million), transportation and logistics (37.83 million), utilities (40.61 million), and business trusts (217,300).

-- BERNAMA