KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI took a negative turn at midday, reversing earlier gains as market sentiment remained cautious, in line with regional markets.
At lunch break, the FBM KLCI fell 3.82 points, or 0.24% to 1,604.93 after hitting an intra-morning high of 1,609.43.
The overall broader market sentiment was negative, with 624 decliners outpacing 335 gainers. Turnover stood at 1.91 billion shares valued at RM1.15mil.
Rakuten Trade believes liquidity within the local bourse is still low but remains hopeful that the index will test 1,630 before 2024 ends.
“For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,605-1,615 range,” it added.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities said that despite the mixed sentiment in the US, Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade with a more robust tone.
Traders are likely to focus on stocks linked to the data centre supply chain, as well as the technology and banking sectors, which are poised to benefit from the stronger US dollar environment.
“Also, we like Healthcare, specifically gloves as we think the earnings to grow moving forward. Meanwhile, we are also optimistic about East Malaysia-related, supported by recovering share prices and anticipated fund inflows into the region,” it added.
Among the gainers on Bursa Malaysia, SAM Engineering rose 18 sen to RM4.33, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 16 sen to RM21.56, United Plantations gained 14 sen to RM31.50 and LPI Capital climbed 14 sen to RM31.50.
Nestle slid RM1.30 to RM98.70, PPB Group fell 34 sen to RM12.24, Gamuda lost 22 sen to RM9.55 and MBM Resources eased 13 sen to RM6.32.
Newly listed Topvision
gained 2.5 sen, or 7.58% to 35.5 sen with 48.28 million shares traded.
