KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended at its intraday high today prompted by improved market sentiment across the region as bargain hunting continued particularly in industrial products and services as well as financial services counters.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.76 points to 1,435.89 from yesterday's close of 1,428.13.
The barometer index opened 0.99 points higher at 1,429.12 and subsequently hit a low of 1,426.50 during the mid-morning session.
Market breadth was positive as gainers beat decliners 535 to 321, while 421 counters were unchanged, 956 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 3.05 billion units worth RM1.83 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the key regional indices closed mostly higher after Warren Buffett said he plans to add to Japanese investments.
Furthermore, the Bank of Korea’s plan to keep the country's interest rate unchanged at 3.5 per cent was well received by investors.
"As for the local bourse, we believe the market undertone will remain positive as investor sentiment improves.
"Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,425-1,445 for the remainder of the week,” he told Bernama.
Region-wise, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.05 per cent to 27,923.37, South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.42 per cent to 2,547.86, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.76 per cent to 20,485.24, while Singapore's Straits Times Index perked up 0.05 per cent to 3,297.83 and China's SSE Composite Index went down 0.05 per cent to 3,313.57.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added eight sen to RM8.73, CIMB ticked up four sen to RM5.22, Public Bank was one sen higher at RM3.99, while Petronas Chemicals eased two sen to RM7.38 and Tenaga Nasional declined five sen to RM9.13.
As for the actives, Hong Seng and Revenue Group rose one sen each to 12.5 sen and 27 sen respectively, Cypark advanced six sen to 87 sen, Top Glove remained flat at RM1.15 while My EG Services down two sen to 74.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 53.70 points to 10,554.79, the FBMT 100 Index rose 50.76 points to 10,235.48, the FBM ACE Index was 42.79 points higher at 5,346.33, the FBM 70 Index garnered 49.45 points to 13,785.76, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 54.59 points to 10,911.93.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 79.55 points to 15,783.67, the Energy Index climbed 8.41 points to 872.82, the Plantation Index increased 32.81 points to 6,840.53, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.12 points to 175.28.
The Main Market volume improved to 2.14 billion units worth RM1.57 billion from 2.08 billion units worth RM1.23 billion on Monday.
Warrants turnover widened to 381.61 million units worth RM68.98 million against 120.21 million units worth RM10.95 million previously.
The ACE Market volume dwindled to 524.51 million shares worth RM188.01 million versus 868.38 million shares worth RM207.34 million on Monday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 241.70 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (598.08 million); construction (64.98 million); technology (343.22 million); SPAC (nil), financial services (47.30 million); property (285.93 million); plantation (29.42 million); REITs (8.65 million), closed/fund (86,500); energy (191.14 million); healthcare (182.4 million); telecommunications and media (69.38 million); transportation and logistics (44.01 million); and utilities (40.64 million). - Bernama
