BURSA MALAYSIA BOUNCES BACK TO POSITIVE ZONE ON BUYING IN SELECTED BLUE CHIPS

By Abdul Hamid A Rahman

KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded from yesterday’s heavy profit-taking to end higher as investors resumed nibbling in selected blue chips, amid the mostly weaker performance in regional bourses, said Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.61 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 1,629.68 from Monday's close of 1,622.07.

The key index, which opened 3.16 points higher at 1,625.23, moved between 1,625.23 and 1,632.50 throughout the day.

On the broader market, gainers surpassed losers 685 to 458, with 502 counters unchanged, 826 untraded, and 16 others suspended.

Turnover slid to 5.11 billion units worth RM3.59 billion from Monday's 5.34 billion units worth RM3.42 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said that the FBM KLCI rebounded as investors resumed buying in selected blue chips after yesterday's significant profit-taking.

“Domestically, we are cautious about the local market's short-term direction due to external factors and increasing global volatility.

“However, we remain confident in the long-term outlook, supported by strong fundamentals and attractive valuations,” he told Bernama.

Thong expects the benchmark index to trend within the 1,610-1,640 range for the rest of the week.

Meanwhile, the key regional indices finished mostly lower as profit-taking continued in certain bourses while buying interest remained in technology stocks. 

Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank added 4.0 sen to RM10.10, CIMB Group gained 8.0 sen to RM7.20, IHH Healthcare garnered 5.0 sen to RM6.31, and Public Bank edged up 1.0 sen to RM4.20. Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.44.

Among the actives, Hubline gained 2.0 sen to 12.5 sen, Velesto Energy added 1.0 sen to 24 sen, Main Market debutant Well Chip Group surged 57.0 sen to RM1.72, Zen Tech International was unchanged at 1.5 sen, while Ekovest declined 7.0 sen to 49 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 77.03 points to 12,624.54, the FBMT 100 Index rose 72.95 points to 12,200.22, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 67.02 points to 12,974.61, the FBM 70 Index surged 170.88 points to 18,848.46, and the FBM ACE Index gained 21.14 points to 5,912.06.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index firmed 73.32 points to 17,974.14, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.50 points to 196.45, and the Energy Index advanced 11.20 points to 973.26, while the Plantation Index decreased by 10.40 points to 7,197.92.

The Main Market volume improved to 2.97 billion units valued at RM3.18 billion from Monday's 2.83 billion units valued at RM2.83 billion.    

Warrants turnover dipped to 1.17 billion units worth RM156.79 million from 1.29 billion units worth RM168.58 million previously.  

The ACE Market volume slipped to 983.16 million shares valued at RM258.99 million from 1.20 billion shares valued at RM414.61 million yesterday.  

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 404.76 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (495.21 million), construction (597.40 million), technology (272.83 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (181.24 million), property (277.04 million), plantation (38.10 million), REITs (16.08 million), closed/fund (71,300), energy (275.24 million), healthcare (75.49 million), telecommunications and media (42.44 million), transportation and logistics (202.63 million), utilities (86.06 million), and business trusts (1.12 million).

-- BERNAMA