KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher on bargain hunting, led by banking, gaming, and oil and gas stocks as the local bourse moved up along with key regional markets.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 0.7% or 10.16 points, to 1,426.11 from last Friday’s close of 1,415.95.
The index opened 0.26 of a point better at 1,416.21 and moved between 1,415.92 and 1,428.32 throughout the trading session. The market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbering decliners 433 to 403, while 397 counters were unchanged, 1,006 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover rose to 2.90 billion units valued at RM1.52bil from 2.64bil units worth RM1.48 billion last Friday.
The market was closed on Monday for Labour Day.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices were also in positive territory following positive economic data from Hong Kong, South Korea, and Thailand.
On the domestic front, Rakuten is cautiously optimistic given the improvement in the regional market sentiment.
“Nonetheless, investors will stay alert due to the increasing market volatility, especially in the United States and Europe. We expect some bargain-hunting to continue given the cheap valuations of the local market compared to regional peers.
“We see the benchmark index trade within a range of between 1,420 and 1,435 for the week. Based on technical analysis, the immediate support is at 1,400 and resistance at 1,440,” Thong told Bernama.
Among the banking stocks, Malayan Banking Bhd
added two sen to RM8.68, Public Bank Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose three sen each to RM3.92 and RM5.09 respectively, Hong Leong Bank Bhd grew 12 sen to RM20.26 and RHB Bank Bhdgained four sen to RM5.52.
Other heavyweights including Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd climbed 12 sen to RM7.20, Tenaga Nasional Bhd perked up seven sen to RM8.97 and CelcomDigi Bhd was flat at RM4.40.
