Bargain Hunting Lifts Bursa Malaysia To End At Intraday High

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended at its intra-day high on Tuesday as bargain hunting in selected heavyweights pushes the market up amid the stronger regional market performance.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 11.66 points or 0.76 per cent to close at 1,538.64  from Monday’s close of 1,526.98.

The benchmark index, which had opened at its lowest level of 1,528.63 and hit its highest level of 1,538.64 for the trading day.

However, the broader market was negative, with decliners outpacing gainers 533 to 479, while 505 counters were unchanged, 973 untraded and seven suspended.

Turnover rose to 2.87 billion units worth RM2.75 billion from 2.63 billion units worth RM1.94 billion on Monday.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd's head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the local market appears to be stabilising, providing near-term support for equity valuations and risk appetite, with global monetary policy turning incrementally dovish and geopolitical tensions easing.

“The rising expectations of United States (US) Federal Reserve rate cuts reinforced a pro-risk environment, particularly benefitting sectors with inverse sensitivity to interest rate volatility.

“Additionally, regional equity markets closed mostly higher, buoyed by improved geopolitical sentiment and policy signals from China,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional rose 12 sen each to RM9.66 and RM13.28, IHH Healthcare gained 15 sen to RM6.85, while Public Bank and CIMB were flat at RM4.24 and RM6.75 respectively.

Of the most active counters, TWL remained unchanged at 2.5 sen, Pharmaniaga advanced half-a-sen to 18.5 sen, while Top Glove lost two sen to 63.5 sen, Tanco and Sinaran Advance Group both inched down half-a-sen to 81.5 sen and 1.5 sen.

Across the broader market, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 69.15 points to 11,541.97, the FBMT 100 Index increased 73.06 points to 11,306.66, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 75.79 points to 11,569.00.

The FBM 70 Index grew 52.49 points to 16,666.75, while the FBM ACE Index edged up 2.09 points to 4,631.46.

By sector, the Financial Services Index soared 83.90 points to 17,448.46, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.38 points higher at 159.40, the Energy Index improved 0.61 of a point to 740.40, while the Plantation Index shed 7.10 points to 7,363.35.

The Main Market volume climbed to 1.87 billion units valued at RM2.52 billion from 1.51 billion units valued at RM1.73 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover fell to 703.81 million units worth RM96.19 million from 824.19 million units worth RM117.88 million previously.

The ACE Market volume improved to 300.21 million units worth RM137.66 million from 290.27 million units worth RM97.82 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 233.47 million shares traded on the Main Market; industrial products and services (199.48 million), construction (144.60 million), technology (297.15 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (142.23 million), property (257.80 million), plantation (12.96 million), REITs (23.35 million), closed-end fund (2,700), energy (203.88 million), healthcare (213.97 million), telecommunications and media (39.58 million), transportation and logistics (32.64 million), utilities (69.03 million), and business trusts (58,900).

-- BERNAMA