Bursa Malaysia Snaps 6-day Losing Streak, Ci Up On Bargain Hunting

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 (Bernama) -- The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) snapped a six-day losing streak to close the week higher as bargain-hunting emerged due to improved risk sentiment. 

At 5 pm, the FBM KLCI rose 8.36 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 1,535.38 from Thursday’s close of 1,527.02. 

The benchmark index, which opened 4.91 points higher at 1,531.93, fluctuated between 1,531.76 and 1,536.75 throughout the day. 

In the broader market, gainers beat losers 468 to 447, while 506 counters were unchanged, 998 untraded, and 41 suspended. 

Turnover fell slightly to 2.72 billion units worth RM2.17 billion compared with Thursday’s 2.78 billion units worth RM2.15 billion.     

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI reversed six days of losses, staging a broad-based recovery that began in the morning session and was sustained throughout the day.

He added that improved risk sentiment, coupled with a pullback in US Treasury yields, spurred bargain-hunting across selected large-cap stocks.

“Notably, the easing in bond yields after a strong spike provided relief to rate-sensitive sectors, particularly local banking stocks, which led gains on the day. As a result, we observed a meaningful rebound in both the financial sector index and key banking counters, contributing positively to the overall index performance,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Maybank rose 6.0 sen to RM9.88, Public Bank jumped 10 sen to RM4.40, CIMB went up 9.0 sen to RM6.94, IHH Healthcare gained 2.0 sen to RM6.90, Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14, and YTL Power shed 21 sen to RM3.39.

For active stocks, Main Market debutant Eco-Shop advanced 7.0 sen to RM1.20, MYEG and Tanco both increased 2.5 sen to 92 sen and 97.5 sen, respectively, Aizo was flat at 8.5 sen, and Barakah Offshore declined 2.5 sen to half-a-sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index garnered 54.39 points to 11,474.05, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 57.35 points to 11,233.10, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 43.20 points to 11,426.22, the FBM 70 Index expanded by 68.39 points to 16,350.26, and the FBM ACE Index added 3.39 points to 4,615.94.   

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index rose by 169.33 points to 18,102.58, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 0.29 of-a-point to 154.04, the Energy Index was 4.07 points higher at 710.77, while the Plantation Index firmed 24.5 points to 7,330.31.   

The Main Market volume improved to 1.41 billion units valued at RM1.98 billion against Thursday’s 1.23 billion units valued at RM1.90 billion.    

Warrants turnover slipped to 1.11 billion units worth RM130.73 million from 1.29 billion units worth RM169.74 million yesterday. 

The ACE Market volume declined to 204.53 million worth RM64.75 million from 260.76 million worth RM83.47 million on Thursday.       

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 366.55 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (170.02 million), construction (81.52 million), technology (145.17 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (59.76 million), property (155.55 million), plantation (11.89 million), REITs (15.04 million), closed/fund (17,700), energy (192.30 million), healthcare (36.43 million), telecommunications and media (70.43 million), transportation and logistics (18.15 million), utilities (86.07 million), and business trusts (55,700).

-- BERNAMA