Bursa Malaysia Reverses Early Losses To End Higher

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia recouped earlier losses to close marginally higher on Friday, buoyed by persistent buying in selected heavyweights led by Tenaga Nasional, amid the mostly upbeat performance in regional bourses.

Tenaga Nasional shares added 20 sen to RM14.00 with 10.85 million shares changing hands.  

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.10 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 1,589.78 from yesterday’s close of 1,588.68.

The benchmark index, which opened 4.36 points better at 1,593.04, moved between 1,587.74 and 1,593.85 during the trading session.

However, the broader market was negative, with decliners beating gainers 553 to 479 while 509 counters remained unchanged, 924 untraded, and 23 suspended.

Turnover declined to 2.59 billion units valued at RM2.28 billion versus 3.44 billion units valued at RM2.50 billion on Thursday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the better local market showing tracked Wall Street's gains, as investors set aside initial worries over Nvidia Corp's revenue forecast.

“The robust performance of the global technology sector, led by Nvidia's encouraging results, is likely to positively influence Asian markets, particularly in South Korea and Taiwan, where semiconductor industries hold a dominant position.

“Despite this, geopolitical tensions remain a concern as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the country had fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine,” he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI closed slightly higher today, reflecting the positive momentum from Wall Street, but the index remained below the critical psychological threshold of 1,600.

“While the gains were encouraging, they appear tenuous, with continued pressure from underperforming utility stocks weighing on the broader market,” he added.  

Among other heavyweights, CIMB put on 1.0 sen to RM8.22, IHH Healthcare gained 2.0 sen to RM7.19, Public Bank and Hong Leong Bank eased 2.0 sen to RM4.38 and RM20.48 respectively, while Maybank was flat RM10.20.

As for the active stocks, Globetronics Technology perked up by 3.5 sen to 54.5 sen, Zen Tech International edged down half-a-sen to 1.0 sen, YTL Corporation shed 6.0 sen RM1.77, Cape EMS erased 1.5 sen to 35.5 sen, while MY E.G. was flat at 91 sen. 

-- BERNAMA