LATE BUYING LIFTS BURSA MALAYSIA TO CLOSE MARGINALLY HIGHER

By Anas Abu Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia reversed earlier losses to close in positive territory today, with the benchmark index edging higher on late buying across the board, supported by above-average trading volume which reflected renewed market sentiment, an analyst said.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.12 points, or 0.07 per cent, to close at 1,583.51 compared to Tuesday’s close of 1,582.39.

The benchmark index opened 0.84 of-a-point higher at 1,583.23 and hit a low of 1,573.44 in the early session before steadily crawling back to a high of 1,583.67 in the late session.

In the broader market, gainers trounced losers 762 to 360, while 449 counters were unchanged, 824 untraded and seven suspended.

Turnover expanded to 4.20 billion units worth RM3.29 billion against 4.16 billion units worth RM4.48 billion on Tuesday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices continued their uptrend following the 90-day trade war pause between the United States (US) and China.

"We note renewed optimism following the US-China trade pause, offering investors a measure of relief.

"We are hopeful that the easing of trade tensions will boost global investor sentiment and benefit Malaysia’s equity market, given its strategic position in cross-border manufacturing flows," he told Bernama. 

On the home front, Thong anticipates the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,560-1,600 range for the remainder of the week.

Among heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM10.20, Public Bank gained three sen to RM4.53, CIMB fell seven sen to RM7.24, Tenaga Nasional erased four sen to RM14.30, and IHH Healthcare added one sen to RM7.06.

As for active stocks, OCR was unchanged at 3.5 sen, Notion bagged six sen to 75.5 sen, SFP Tech rose 1.5 sen to 23.5 sen, Widad eased half-a-sen to three sen, Nationgate garnered 14 sen to RM1.77, and Genetec increased 13 sen to RM1.17.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 39.43 points to 11,836.33, the FBMT 100 Index added 26.46 points to 11,587.11, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 57.19 points to 11,771.05.

The FBM 70 Index climbed 111.13 points to 16,872.91 and the FBM ACE Index jumped 65.92 points to 4,791.00.

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index slipped 3.13 points to 18,572.79, the Industrial Products and Services Index was up 2.32 points to 160.89, the Energy Index bagged 22.21 points to 743.36, and the Plantation Index rose 10.26 points to 7,357.40.

The Main Market volume declined to 2.08 billion units valued at RM2.92 billion against Tuesday's close of 2.15 billion units valued at RM4.15 billion.

Warrants turnover narrowed to 1.51 billion units worth RM181.96 million against 1.64 billion units worth RM214.76 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume swelled to 612.45 million units valued at RM191.76 million from 365.0 million units valued at RM117.50 million previously.  

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 251.74 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (334.86 million), construction (197.52 million), technology (488.36 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (95.50 million), property (218.62 million), plantation (32.13 million), REITs (14.19 million), closed/fund (19,500), energy (217.27 million), healthcare (63.71 million), telecommunications and media (74.18 million), transportation and logistics (48.79 million), utilities (45.39 million), and business trusts (81,800).

-- BERNAMA