FBM KLCI Stages Rebound On Late Bargain Hunting

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded from last Friday’s loss to close higher on Tuesday as late buying lifted the key index amid a mixed regional market performance and ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 1.58 points to 1,576.70 from last Friday’s close of 1,575.12. The index opened 1.74 points higher at 1,576.86 and moved between 1,561.36 and 1,576.91 throughout the day.

On the broader market, decliners trounced advancers 735 to 336, while 490 counters were unchanged, 978 untraded and seven suspended.

Turnover declined to 2.90 billion units worth RM2.79 billion from 3.08 billion units worth RM3.16 billion last Friday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng expects BNM to maintain the overnight policy rate (OPR) at its meeting on Thursday. However, he said the looming decision was unlikely to have impacted the FBM KLCI’s performance today. “Actually, the market is good; it just needed to take a breather. But then, late buying emerged unexpectedly,” he told Bernama.

Thong said he sees the FBM KLCI trending within the range of 1,570-1,600 for the week.

Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd anticipated the FBM KLCI to trend sideways in the holiday-shortened week for the Maulidur Rasul holiday on Sept 5. “Sentiment is likely to stay cautious as investors monitor potential spillover effects from Indonesia’s political unrest, particularly on Malaysian blue chips with exposure to the banking and plantation sectors,” it said in a note today.

At the close, heavyweight counters Maybank jumped 16 sen to RM10.06, Public Bank rose three sen to RM4.30, and Tenaga Nasional gained four sen to RM13.24. IHH Healthcare was higher by one sen at RM6.80, while CIMB Group slid 19 sen to RM7.24.

In the actively traded counters, Ekovest dropped three sen to 34.5 sen, Sime Darby dipped five sen to RM2.02, and Oxford Innotech lost 4.5 sen to 36.5 sen. NexG and Tanco Holdings were flat at 49 sen and 70.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 13.58 points to 11,689.31, the FBMT 100 Index chopped off 10.38 points to 11,464.19, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 19.79 points to 11,629.29. The FBM 70 Index lost 111.72 points to 16,364.52, and the FBM ACE Index shed 44.90 points to 4,677.12.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 35.79 points to 18,146.81, the Industrial Products and Services Index dipped 0.86 of a point to 161.36, and the Energy Index shed 1.32 points to 738.90, while the Plantation Index slipped 8.97 points to 7,585.48.

The Main Market volume slipped to 1.56 billion units valued at RM2.54 billion from 1.75 billion units valued at RM2.89 billion last Friday.

Warrant turnover expanded to 976.94 million units worth RM134.03 million from 923.30 million units worth RM143.49 million previously.

The ACE Market volume dropped to 359.72 million units worth RM119.32 million from 405.71 million units worth RM131.93 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 265.85 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (276.05 million), construction (208.50 million), technology (178.98 million),  financial services (128.43 million), property (180.45 million), plantation (21.59 million), REITs (25.93 million), closed/fund (11,000), energy (112.56 million), healthcare (59.36 million), telecommunications and media (34.44 million), transportation and logistics (30.28 million), utilities (40.39 million), and business trusts (232,800).

-- BERNAMA