KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, rebounded from the strong broad-based sell-down on Tuesday to open higher this morning, supported by bargain hunting activities, a dealer said.
At 9.05 am Thursday, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 5.93 points to 1,491.43 from Tuesday’s close of 1,485.50.
The key index opened 3.32 points stronger at 1,488.82.
Market breadth is also positive with gainers leading losers 282 to 129, while 284 counters were unchanged, 1,478 untraded and 11 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 265.63 million units worth RM157.99 million (US$1=RM4.23).
The market was closed Wednesday for the Federal Territory Day public holiday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng said the benchmark index fell below 1,490 on Tuesday due to the market uncertainty brought on by the United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting.
“However, we reckon bargain hunting activities would return, thus expect the index to trend in the 1,490-1,500 range today, and the tech sector to see a strong recovery.
“Meanwhile, crude oil prices weakened on higher inventory data as the Brent crude declined to US$83 per barrel,” he said in a note Thursday.
Globally, Thong said Wall Street recovered strongly following the Fed’s 25 basis points hike, as the Dow Jones Index Average added seven points and the Nasdaq jumped by 232 points with the US 10-year yield easing to below 3.42 per cent.
“Regionally, Hong Kong’s equities also rebounded, buoyed by tech stocks as traders were betting on the Fed’s less aggressive rate hike, pushing the Hang Seng Index 230 points higher to close above the 22,000 level,” he added.
Back home, Bursa heavyweights Press Metal gained eight sen to RM5.26, Maybank improved five sen to RM8.79, Sime Darby Plantation accumulated seven sen to RM4.40, Petronas Chemicals was six sen better at RM8.41 and IHH improved four sen to RM5.96.
As for the actives, CTOS Digital lost four sen to RM1.50, Hong Seng and Pasukhas added half-a-sen each to 20.5 sen and 2.5 sen, respectively, and Vestland improved one sen to 40 sen while Minda Global was flat at seven sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index earned 46.03 points to 10,862.30, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 42.09 points to 10,527.55, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 65.18 points to 11,141.38.
The FBM 70 Index widened 55.91 points to 13,741.91 while the FBM ACE Index added 47.20 points to 5,758.66.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index advanced 1.08 points to 191.01, the Plantation Index increased 51.82 points to 6,881.20 and the Financial Services Index grew 19.211 points to 16,432.65, while the Energy Index fell 1.54 points to 885.71.
— NNN-BERNAMA
