BANKS, TELCOS PUSH FBM KLCI ABOVE 1,580 LEVEL

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 -- Bursa Malaysia’s barometer index ended the day above the 1,580 level, thanks to gains in bank and telecommunication counters, positioning it to test the psychological 1,600 resistance soon.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended at its intra-day high of 1,583.91, by adding 13.09 points compared with 1,570.82 at Monday’s close.

The bellwether index opened 1.52 points better at 1,572.34.

Market breadth was positive as gainers outnumbered decliners 548 to 517, while 456 counters were unchanged, 750 untraded and six others suspended.

Turnover, however decreased to 5.19 billion units worth RM3.55 billion from 6.90 billion units worth RM3.87 billion on Monday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local market performed better than expected due to the strong support from foreign funds.

Additionally, the Brent crude oil price inched closer to US$85 per barrel with a short-term target of around US$90 per barrel.

“This shall attract buying interest on oil and gas stocks. Though we may see some intermittent profit- taking, we expect the local bourse to preserve its bullish phase over the short to medium term,” he told Bernama.

Thong said sentiments are turning more positive while market valuation remains at attractive levels.

On the passing of the Windfall Profit Levy (Amendment) Bill 2020, he said the move to tax unexpected gains is not expected to affect glove counters, which have been recording ultra profits since the spread of COVID-19.  

“Profits for glove companies will be much lower next year. So, I don’ t think they will impose any levy on them,” he told Bernama.

Top Glove’s net profit jumped 349 per cent to RM7.87 billion in the financial year 2021 (FY2021) from RM1.75 billion in the same period a year earlier. 

Revenue for the year also surged by 127 per cent to RM16.4 billion from RM7.24 billion in FY2020.

However, its net profit has declined about 48 per cent to RM607.95 million in the fourth quarter FY2021 as the rollout of vaccinations worldwide dampened demand for gloves.

Glove’s average selling prices (ASPs) are also trending downwards due to increasing global production.

Meanwhile, Hartalega’s first quarter FY2022 net profit soared 928.4 per cent year-on-year to RM2.26 billion from RM219.7 million previously.

Thong said the move could possibly affect plantation counters, which currently saw crude palm oil prices trading near record levels. 

CPO futures hit RM5,000 per tonne for the first time last week amid concerns over tight edible oil supplies and bullish demand ahead of the Deepavali festival celebration.

At the close, Top Glove and Hartalega were in positive territory after recent downtrends.

Heavyweights CIMB gained 11 sen to RM5.11, Telekom Malaysia was 28 sen stronger at RM5.96, Public Bank expanded five sen to RM4.16, Axiata was 10 sen higher at RM4.10 and Hartalega jumped 25 sen to RM5.97.

Maybank and Digi rose seven sen to RM8.23 and RM4.35 respectively, while RHB Bank added 14 sen to RM5.55.

As for the active counters, Sapura Energy and KNM were flat at 10.5 sen and 23 sen respectively, while AYS Ventures improved 12.5 sen to 87 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was higher by 80.37 points at 11,652.65, the FBMT 100 Index edged up 79.14 points to 11,293.11, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 62.02 points to 12,748.31 and the FBM 70 was 51.48 points better at 15,247.51.

However, the FBM ACE declined 16.53 points to 7,190.18.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index soared 189.34 points to 15,542.80, the Industrial Products and Services Index bagged 0.24 of-a-point to 211.01, and the Plantation Index shed 39.30 points to 7,004.11.

The Main Market volume narrowed 3.59 billion shares worth RM3.14 billion compared with 4.33 billion shares worth RM3.28 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover slipped to 406.10 million units worth RM50.59 million against 415.43 million units worth RM61.55 million.

The volume on the ACE Market eased to 1.19 billion shares worth RM355.41 million from 2.15 billion shares worth RM533.57 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 568.51 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.31 billion), construction (149.57 million), technology (269.24 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (82.03 million), property (277.52 million), plantation (61.35 million), REITs (8.62 million), closed/fund (191,000), energy (645.66 million), healthcare (90.26 million), telecommunications and media (31.98 million), transportation and logistics (76.42 million), and utilities (14.88 million).

-- BERNAMA