Bursa Malaysia Closes At Intraday High On Stronger Regional Performance

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed at its intraday high on Monday, in line with stronger regional market performance, coupled with continued buying interest in the healthcare and financial stocks, an analyst said.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 3.03 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 1,638.09 from Friday’s close of 1,635.06.

The benchmark index opened 1.08 points higher at 1,636.14, and hit its lowest at 1,629.93 earlier in the trading session.

However, across the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers 729 to 403, while 464 counters were unchanged, 968 were untraded, and seven were suspended.

Turnover declined to 3.69 billion units worth RM2.61 billion, compared with 4.03 billion units valued at RM2.50 billion on Friday.

Rakuten Trade vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said regional equities traded broadly stronger, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 reaching new record highs on speculation that newly elected Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takichi will pursue a more accommodative fiscal stance.

“Trading sentiment was quiet overall; mainland China markets stayed closed for Golden Week and Hong Kong is set to be on holiday tomorrow. Back home, we remain positive on the local market with the return of foreign funds and improved trading volume.

“Attention now turns to the 1,650 resistance level. The brief consolidation period is a sign of strength, indicating that the market is digesting gains before resuming its advance. As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,620-1,650 for the week,” Thong told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM10.02, Public Bank was three sen higher at RM4.37, Tenaga Nasional rose eight sen to RM13.36, IHH Healthcare added 22 sen to RM8.35, while CIMB dropped one sen to RM7.67.

In active trading, KNM Group eased 2.5 sen to half-a-sen, Borneo Oil and NexG were flat at half-a-sen and 52 sen, respectively, while V.S Industry dipped two sen to 55 sen and Tanco inched down half-a-sen to 88.5 sen.

Besides IHH Healthcare, other top gainers included PPB Group, up 30 sen to RM10.52; Nestle, up 28 sen to RM97.30; Petronas Gas, up 24 sen to RM18.82; PIE Industrial, up 23 sen to RM3.49; and Kuala Lumpur Kepong, up 20 sen to RM20.40.

Top losers were KSL Holdings and Petronas Dagangan, down 34 sen each to RM2.99 and RM23.04, respectively; Malaysian Pacific Industries, down 22 sen to RM31; Allianz Malaysia, down 20 sen to RM17.80; and Far East Holdings, down 15 sen to RM4.10.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index eased 0.75 of a point to 12,180.92, the FBM 100 Index gained 3.51 points to 11,912.47, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 3.98 points to 12,197.71.

The FBM 70 Index fell 75.78 points to 17,014.42, while the FBM ACE Index decreased 13.65 points to 5,333.47.

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.83 of-a-point to 173.52, the Energy Index narrowed 1.53 points to 786.13, the Plantation Index added 23.39 points to 7,820.03, and the Financial Services Index grew 33.51 points to 18,635.91.

Main Market volume fell to 1.99 billion units valued at RM2.27 billion, versus 2.49 billion units worth RM2.16 billion on Friday.

Warrant turnover expanded to 1.12 billion units worth RM154.52 million, compared with 933.77 million units valued at RM152.93 million on Friday.

The ACE Market volume decreased to 573.35 million shares valued at RM182.53 million against 603.87 million shares worth RM188.69 million previously.

On the Main Market, consumer products and services counters accounted for 296.34 million shares traded, followed by industrial products and services (401.58 million), construction (117.51 million), technology (332.71 million), financial services (54.40 million), property (178.36 million), plantation (17.65 million), REITs (19.05 million), closed/fund (58,600), energy (329.16 million), healthcare (102.93 million), telecommunications and media (63.92 million), transportation and logistics (39.57 million), utilities (40.48 million), and business trusts (119,200).

-- BERNAMA