Renewed Bargain Hunting Lifts Bursa Malaysia, CI Up 1.25 Pct

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia started the final month of the year on a firmer footing, with the key index climbing 1.25 per cent at Monday’s close, supported by renewed bargain hunting and year-end portfolio rebalancing by institutional investors.  

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 20.10 points, or 1.25 per cent, to 1,624.57 from last Friday’s close of 1,604.47.

The benchmark index, which opened  3.79 points higher to 1,608.26, moved between 1,608.26 and 1,625.42 throughout the day. 

However, the broader market was negative, with decliners surpassing gainers 681 to 526. A total of 505 counters were unchanged, 977 untraded, and 10 suspended.

Turnover slipped to 3.99 billion units worth RM2.79 billion from 4.09 billion units worth RM3.36 billion last Friday.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said sector performance was broad-based, but the most significant moves came from heavyweights led by financial services, telecommunications and media, as well as industrial products and services sectors.

“This rotation signals improving risk appetite as investors tilt back towards cyclical and domestic-demand-linked counters after last week’s risk-off positioning,” he told Bernama. 

In addition, he said market sentiment was further supported by encouraging macro signals as Malaysia’s seasonally adjusted S&P Global Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) edged up from 49.5 in October to 50.1 in November, marking the first move back into expansionary territory since May 2024.

“The improvement reinforces the view that manufacturing conditions may be stabilising, with firms reporting stronger optimism about future output. Indeed, business confidence rose to its highest level since July 2013, underpinned by expectations of production scaling, new product pipelines, and more resilient customer demand,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said regional equities advanced broadly, driven by optimism over potential United States (US) rate cuts that continued to buoy risk appetite.

“Investors positioned cautiously but positively ahead of several major data points: China’s November PMI, Eurozone Manufacturing PMI and consumer price index, and the US’s September industrial and manufacturing production and initial jobless claims,” he said. 

Among heavyweights, Maybank perked up 6.0 sen to RM9.97, Public Bank added 1.0 sen to RM4.36, CIMB jumped 30 sen to RM7.95, while Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare gained 14 sen each to RM13.32 and RM8.40, respectively.

On the most active list, Tanco added 3.0 sen to RM1.16, Aquawalk put on 3.5 sen to 38 sen, Zetrix AI eased 1.0 sen to 81.5 sen, Inari Amertron slid 26 sen to RM1.93, while Perak Transit was flat at 26 sen.

Top gainers included Nestle which rose RM4.70 sen to RM111.60, BLD Plantation increased 70 sen to RM16.50, Hong Leong Industries advanced 64 sen to RM15.64, Dutch Lady gained RM1.40 to RM31.40, and Petronas Dagangan climbed 78 sen to RM20.60.

Among the top losers, Kuala Lumpur Kepong slipped RM1.10 to RM19.10, Malaysian Pacific Industries gave up 56 sen to RM31.36, PPB Group shed 42 sen to RM10.58, while Panasonic Manufacturing and Bintulu Port trimmed by 15 sen each to RM7.20 and RM5.15, respectively.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 82.90 points to 11,998.87, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 52.56 points to 11,903.46, the FBMT 100 Index put on 89.29 points to 11,790.26, and the FBM ACE Index went up 7.29 points to 4,831.91, but the FBM Mid 70 Index declined 120.25 points to 16,735.83.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 209.50 points to 18,785.45, the Industrial Products & Services Index edged up 1.93 points to 165.96, and the Energy Index perked up 1.67 points to 749.45, while the Plantation Index fell 38.20 points to 8,033.92.

The Main Market volume decreased to 1.45 billion units worth RM2.34 billion from 1.76 billion units worth RM2.92 billion last Friday.

Warrants turnover expanded to 2.19 billion units worth RM321.14 million against 1.79 billion units worth RM255.37 million previously.

The ACE Market volume tumbled to 341.26 million units valued at RM126.54 million versus 541.51 million units valued at RM189.06 million on Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 281.31 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (213.04 million), construction (106.10 million), technology (214.23 million), financial services (86.18 million), property (185.76 million), plantation (69.66 million), real estate investment trusts (24.30 million), closed-end fund (11,000), energy (89.79 million), healthcare (57.52 million), telecommunications and media (37.99 million), transportation and logistics (27.42 million), utilities (39.11 million), and business trusts (14,300).

-- BERNAMA