Bursa Malaysia's Key Index Regains Ground To End Marginally Higher

By Anas Abu Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia's benchmark index reversed earlier losses to close marginally higher on Monday, tracking positive movement on most regional markets amid renewed optimism on potential United States (US) interest rate cut.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.21 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 1,618.78 from Friday’s close of 1,617.57.

The benchmark index opened 2.57 points higher at 1,620.14 and peaked at 1,621.26 during the early morning session but slipped to 1,609.88 in the afternoon session before regaining ground towards closing.  

However, the broader market was negative with decliners beating gainers 611 to 533, while 530 counters were unchanged, 1,113 untraded, and 28 suspended.

Turnover expanded to 5.81 billion units worth RM5.24 billion against 4.39 billion units worth RM2.96 billion last Friday.  

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said Asian indices opened firmer on renewed optimism over potential US Federal Reserve rate cut next month, but sentiment softened towards the afternoon as volatility increased.  

On the home front, Mohd Sedek noted that the FBM KLCI closed slightly higher after recovering from an intraday decline of nearly 0.5 per cent, although it displayed signs of fragile momentum.

"Banking and industrial counters continued to lead the gainers, while basic material stocks remained under pressure following weaker third-quarter financial results.

"Notably, trading volume was significantly higher, exceeding five billion shares compared with the usual average of around three billion, indicating heightened market participation despite the cautious backdrop," he told Bernama.

Among other heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank rose two sen each to RM9.96 and RM4.30, respectively, CIMB added one sen to RM7.47, while Tenaga Nasional lost six sen to RM13.04, and IHH Healthcare eased four sen to RM8.08.

On the most active list, Bumi Armada and Zetrix both gained half-a-sen to 30.5 sen and 81.5 sen respectively, Tanco was flat at RM1.04, NexG perked up 1.5 sen to 40 sen, and V.S. Industry was up two sen at 47 sen.

Among top gainers, Hong Leong Bank climbed RM1.22 to RM22.22, Malaysian Pacific Industries bagged 88 sen to RM31.66, Fraser & Neave put on 82 sen to RM33.44, Dutch Lady rose 54 sen to RM29.04, and BLD Plantation added 50 sen to RM14.50.

As for the top losers, Hong Leong Industries gave up 58 sen to RM14.42, Petronas Chemicals trimmed 33 sen to RM2.92, Ajinomoto lost 18 sen to RM13.60, while YTL Corp and Lysaght erased 15 sen each to RM2.31 and RM2.40 respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index firmed 22.70 points to 12,019.51, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 23.91 points to 11,794.02, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged up 3.14 points to 11,995.82.

The FBM ACE Index slipped 38.71 points to 4,902.88 while the FBM Mid 70 Index advanced 100.17 points to 16,941.20.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 160.92 points to 18,536.92, the Energy Index added 1.37 points to 757.33, while the Plantation Index slid 19.06 points to 8,217.57, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 1.28 points to 163.65

The Main Market volume increased to 2.02 billion units worth RM4.47 billion versus Friday's 1.58 billion units valued at RM2.37 billion.

Warrants turnover expanded to 3.37 billion units worth RM628.30 million from 2.43 billion units worth RM446.66 million previously.

The ACE Market volume improved to 416.25 million units valued at RM136.78 million versus 379.78 million units valued at RM139.96 million last Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 330.81 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (388.89 million), construction (111.18 million), technology (268.03 million), financial services (157.71 million), property (212.90 million), plantation (68.91 million), real estate investment trusts (25.76 million), closed-end fund (47,400), energy (167.20 million), healthcare (136.70 million), telecommunications and media (55.94 million), transportation and logistics (36.89 million), utilities (58.31 million), and business trusts (190,100).

-- BERNAMA