BURSA MALAYSIA SNAPS 7-DAY LOSING STREAK ON BARGAIN-HUNTING 

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia snapped seven consecutive days of losses to end higher today as bargain-hunting emerged following the recent sell-off, said an analyst. 

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.35 per cent or 5.57 points to 1,590.95 from Tuesday's close of 1,585.38. 

The benchmark index opened 1.01 points better at 1,586.39 and moved between 1,581.76 and 1,593.42 throughout the trading session.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 674 to 433, with 465 counters unchanged, 873 untraded and 45 others suspended.

Turnover decreased to 4.73 billion units worth RM3.22 billion from yesterday's 5.23 billion units worth RM3.70 billion. 

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI rebounded into positive territory bolstered by favourable market developments. 

He said the utilities and healthcare stocks led the rebound, with blue-chip stocks in these sectors remaining attractive to bargain hunters, particularly after last week's price corrections.

"Today's market performance was further supported by the rebound of semiconductor stock NVIDIA last night, which has finally bounced back after a 15 per cent drop over the past three days, drawing buyers off the sidelines. 

"Additionally, the US Consumer Confidence Survey for June fell to 100.4 from 101.3 in May, providing some leeway for the Federal Reserve to consider an interest rate cut," he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng reckoned that the market undertone would remain steady due to improving investor sentiment.  

"The investors are now favouring utilities, banks, and smaller-cap stocks in the technology and healthcare sectors. 

"As such, we expect the index to stay positive going forward, spurred by a renewed sense of optimism," he told Bernama. 

Thong projects the FBM KLCI to trend higher in the range of 1,585-1,600 for the rest of the week.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank added five sen to RM9.96, Public Bank inched up one sen to RM4.01 and CIMB gained eight sen to RM6.76. 

Meanwhile, Tenaga Nasional dropped eight sen to RM13.92 and IHH Healthcare slid one sen to RM6.27.  

As for the most active counters, Ingenieur Gudang was flat at 6.5 sen, SBH Marine rose 3.5 sen to 32 sen, JCY International and SNS Network Technology garnered four sen each to 73.5 sen and 76 sen, respectively, while MY E.G. eased two sen to RM1.02. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 52.38 points to 12,210.75, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 42.66 points to 11,792.34, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 41.63 points to 12,567.54, the FBM 70 Index put on 69.42 points to 17,788.86, and the FBM ACE Index surged 102.18 points to 5,723.31.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 91.71 points to 17,445.23, the Energy Index inched up 6.46 points to 959.99, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.70 of-a-point to 196.84, but the Plantation Index shed 20.19 points to 6,987.93. 

The Main Market volume declined to 2.50 billion units valued at RM2.74 billion from 2.65 billion units valued at RM3.17 billion on Tuesday. 

Warrants turnover slipped to 1.40 billion units worth RM180.17 million compared with 1.58 billion units worth RM204.44 million previously. 

The ACE Market volume tumbled to 822.4 million shares valued at RM295.02 million against 993.15 million shares valued at RM321.7 million yesterday. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 371.18 million shares traded on the Main Market; industrial products and services (712.73 million), construction (185.1 million); technology (344.41 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (78.48 million); property (287.7 million), plantation (22.14 million), REITs (13.43 million), closed/fund (2,000), energy (173.74 million); healthcare (35.55 million); telecommunications and media (82.06 million); transportation and logistics (60.51 million); utilities (106.14 million); and business trusts (31.65 million).

-- BERNAMA