KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia pared gains but stayed in positive territory at the close on Monday, on buying interest in banking, telecommunications and commodity-related stocks.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up 0.18 per cent, or 2.99 points, to 1,636.54 from Friday’s close. The benchmark index, which opened 3.62 points higher at 1,637.17, moved between 1,632.37 and 1,642.56 throughout the trading session.
In the broader market, decliners thumped gainers 654 to 341, with 497 counters unchanged, 973 untraded, and nine suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 2.23 billion units worth RM2.09 billion from 2.29 billion units worth RM2.67 billion on Friday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the benchmark index remained in consolidation mode, hovering only slightly above the key support level of 1,630. He reckons a breakout above the key resistance of 1,650 could signal a more sustained uptrend.
“The long term outlook of Malaysian equities remains optimistic, supported by the country's improving economic conditions, and combined with massive foreign direct investments (FDIs), particularly in the technology, data centre and (related) sectors, are expected to support a broader market recovery.
“We anticipate the benchmark index to trend within the range of 1,630-1,650 for the week, representing the immediate support and resistance levels,” he told Bernama.
Mohd Sedek Jantan, the head of investment research at UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors, said FBM KLCI saw modest growth today as anticipation builds for the Budget 2025 announcement on Oct 18. He noted that the market sentiment today was particularly buoyant around the technology sector as data centres are expected to be among the primary beneficiaries of the forthcoming fiscal measures.
Among the heavyweight stocks, Petronas Dagangan jumped 34 sen to RM18.32, Public Bank bounced 8.0 sen to RM4.39 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 38 sen to RM21.40. CelcomDigi added 5.0 sen to RM3.61 and Sime Darby rose 2.0 sen to RM2.46.
As for the active counters, EA Holdings was flat at half-a-sen, Key Alliance fell half-a-sen to half-a-sen, MYEG shed 2.5 sen to 89.5 sen and Pertama Digital improved 2.0 sen to 30.0 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 7.20 points to 12,289.95, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 10.87 points to 11,987.92 but the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased by 8.45 points to 12,201.90. The FBM 70 Index slid 25.07 points to 17,569.32 and the FBM ACE Index gave up 59.66 points to 5,089.11.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index grew 80.88 points to 19,259.16, the Plantation Index was 15.27 points better at 7,216.68, but the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 0.84 of-a-point to 175.23. The Energy Index lost 4.03 points to 878.07.
-- BERNAMA
