Rakuten's Thong said the FBM KLCI continued its upwards trajectory as market sentiment continues to improve across the region.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended at its intraday high yesterday, in sync with the upbeat performance in regional bourses as market sentiment turned positive, fuelling investors’ risk appetite.
At 5pm yesterday, the FBM KLCI gained 8.40 points, or 0.61%, to 1,391.46 from 1,383.06 at Monday’s close.
The barometer index opened 3.03 points higher at 1,386.09 yesterday morning and hit an intraday low of 1,384.84 in the mid-afternoon session.
The broader market was also positive as gainers surpassed losers 471 to 368, while 418 counters were unchanged, 993 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 2.83 billion units worth RM1.86bil versus 2.24 billion units worth RM1.51bil on Monday.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the FBM KLCI ended higher as sentiment was boosted after authorities in China extended support for property developers in the republic.
He said local investors, however, were still a tad cautious ahead of the US’ Consumer Price Index today.
“Given the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) lack of evidence that core inflation is on a downtrend and the main reason Fed officials want at least two more rate hikes, then if we get a sticky core inflation print, that could be perceived as negative for global risk since it would drive the US yields higher.
“On a sectoral basis, it very much looks like all areas are in a wait-and-watch mode,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd
increased seven sen to RM8.74, Public Bank Bhd inched up one sen to RM3.87, IHH Healthcare Bhd perked six sen to RM5.88, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd went up two sen each to RM5.21 and RM9.05, respectively.
Of the actives, EP Manufacturing Bhd surged 27 sen to 98 sen, Widad Group Bhd put on half-a-sen to 42 sen, Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd ticked up 2.5 sen to 48.5 sen, while BSL Corp Bhd and Jade Marvel Group Bhd were flat at four sen and 22 sen, respectively.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI continued its upwards trajectory as market sentiment continues to improve across the region.
He said that regionally, the key indices closed mostly higher following a positive cue from global equities overnight.
“Meanwhile, investors are thrilled by the proactive measures taken by China’s regulators to exert pressure on financial institutions, urging them to facilitate more favourable terms for property companies.
“This encouragement includes promoting negotiations to extend outstanding loans, providing a positive outlook for investors,” he said.
On the other hand, Thong said the US Fed officials stated that the central bank will need to continue with its tightening measures throughout the year in order to effectively bring inflation back down to the targeted 2% goal, hence, he advised investors to stay cautious.
“Despite the strong backing from local institutions, the prevailing cautious sentiment suggests that the benchmark index is expected to remain range-bound for the foreseeable future.
“Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,380-1,395 range for the rest of the week,” he added.
