Bursa Malaysia Rebounds To End At Intraday High On Bargain Hunting

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded to end at an intraday high today as bargain hunting emerged following a series of sell-offs, amid the upbeat regional market performance.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI)  rose 13.36 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 1,591.03 from Thursday’s close of 1,577.67.

The market bellwether opened 2.25 points higher at 1,579.92 and subsequently hit a low of 1,578.14 in the early session before trending upwards towards closing.

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 572 to 448, while 506 stocks were unchanged, 826 untraded, and 21 suspended.

Turnover narrowed to 2.99 billion units worth RM2.63 billion from 3.15 billion units worth RM2.43 billion on Thursday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said regional indices ended higher led by strong buying interest in technology stocks, after receiving a further boost from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s earnings report, which saw its fastest revenue growth in over a year.

“Despite concerns over escalating geopolitical tensions and an expanding tariff war, Chinese technology stocks have remained resilient, driven by enthusiasm for DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence model.

“The local benchmark index’s gains were primarily led by utilities, energy, and consumer stocks, as investors took advantage of oversold positions, signalling a potential market stabilisation,” he told Bernama.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI surpassed the critical 1,590 level, with positive rebounds in the oil and gas, consumer products, telecommunications, and construction sectors.

“Market sentiment has improved from yesterday, supported by both domestic and external factors.  

“On the domestic front,  the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) announced that inflation rate remained stable at 1.7 per cent year-on-year in January, indicating that the recent civil servant salary hike has not led to broad-based price pressures,” he told Bernama.

According to DOSM, Malaysia’s inflation rate remained at 1.7 per cent in January 2025, with the index points standing at 133.6 points compared to 131.4 points in the same month last year.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 increased 0.26 per cent to 38,776.94, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 3.99 per cent to 23,477.92, Singapore’s Straits Times Index increased 0.06 per cent to 3,929.94, China’s Shanghai Composite Index firmed 0.85 per cent to 3,379.11, and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.02 per cent to 2,654.58. 

On the home front, heavyweights Maybank increased six sen to RM10.50, CIMB and Public Bank were one sen higher at RM8.36 and RM4.50, respectively, Tenaga Nasional put on 18 sen to RM13.98, and IHH Healthcare bagged five sen to RM7.26.

As for active stocks, Ingenieur Gudang inched down half-a-sen to five sen, Inari Amertron plummeted 30 sen to RM2.35, while MYEG climbed two sen to RM1.04. TWL Holdings and Velesto Energy inched up half-a-sen each to 2.5 sen and 18.5 sen, respectively.

--BERNAMA