KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended mixed on Thursday, with the benchmark index rising 0.36% as bargain-hunting continued in selected heavyweights, outperforming most regional markets, which closed lower, an analyst said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 5.87 points to 1,608.14 from Wednesday’s close of 1,602.27.
Berjaya Research’s head of research Kenneth Leong said looking ahead, the FBM KLCI could face mild profit-taking following its recent recovery, particularly if buying momentum begins to fade.
“Investors will monitor the upcoming US Michigan Consumer Sentiment data for fresh clues on consumer confidence, inflation expectations and the potential implications for the US Federal Reserve’s policy outlook,” he told Bernama.
Leong added that the external market sentiment and movements in regional equities are also likely to influence the near-term trading direction.
The index, which opened 2.49 points higher at 1,604.76, hit its day’s low of 1,601.76 in early trading before gaining momentum in the afternoon session to close at its intraday high.
On the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 681 to 420, while 501 counters were unchanged, 1,298 untraded and 18 suspended.
Turnover improved to 2.89 billion units worth RM2.69 billion from 2.76 billion units worth RM2.58 billion on Wednesday.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM9.97, CIMB gained one sen to RM7.15, TNB surged 26 sen to RM13.24, and Public Bank fell two sen to RM4.71.
Of the active stocks, ACE market debutant RedPlanet rose seven sen to 26 sen, MAG Holdings perked up half-a-sen to 16 sen, both Zetrix AI and JAKS were flat at five sen and 17 sen, respectively, while VS Industry shed 1.5 sen to 33 sen.
Among the top gainers, Bintulu Port, Westports and Hengyuan Refining Company increased 25 sen each to RM5.35, RM7.02 and RM4.05, respectively, while Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 22 sen to RM20.30.
The top losers included Nestle, which trimmed 38 sen to RM89.86, MI Technology and UMS Integration went down 25 sen each to RM6.38 and RM7.25, respectively, while Allianz Malaysia shed 16 sen to RM19.14.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index slumped 93.23 points to 17,118.37, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 21.11 points to 11,931.98, the FBM Emas Index went up 8.64 points to 11,964.50, the FBM Top 100 Index was 15.40 points higher at 11,769.83, and the FBM ACE Index tumbled 57.13 points to 5,323.50.
Sector-wise, the industrial products and services index added 0.06 of-a-point to 175.45, the energy index firmed 10.57 points to 831.80, the plantation index jumped 42.56 points to 8,662.68, and the financial services index slipped 3.68 points to 18,605.0.
The Main Market volume trimmed to 1.41 billion units worth RM2.37 billion against Wednesday’s 1.47 billion units worth RM2.29 billion.
Warrants turnover expanded to 941.91 million units worth RM115.13 million from 815.43 million units worth RM115.24 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume increased to 544.11 million units valued at RM206.25 million from 471.79 million units valued at RM167.58 million previously.
Meanwhile, consumer products and services counters accounted for 205.90 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (286.61 million), construction (148.72 million), technology (304.16 million), financial services (83.45 million), property (85.98 million), plantation (31.59 million), real estate investment trusts (14.52 million), closed-end fund (53,100), energy (93.07 million), healthcare (60.20 million), telecommunications and media (22.93 million), transportation and logistics (47.30 million), utilities (28.14 million), and business trusts (106,100).