KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index edged higher at the close as bargain hunting emerged following Monday’s sharp sell-off, although it narrowly failed to reclaim the 1,600 level, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 3.83 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 1,599.58 from Monday’s close of 1,595.75. The index opened 3.18 points lower at 1,592.57, marking its intraday low, and reached an intraday high of 1,602.83 in early trading. On the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 751 to 331, while 499 counters were unchanged, 1,259 untraded and 10 suspended. Turnover rose to 2.86 billion units worth RM2.42 billion against Monday’s 2.49 billion units worth RM2.38 billion.
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): The FBM KLCI settled 0.21% or 3.48 points higher at 1,627.28 points today on bargain hunting activities after having languished in the red for three days last week.
"The FBM KLCI closed in the green in tandem with the gains in key regional indices, mainly due to bargain hunting activities," said Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd analyst Kenneth Leong.
Gainers were led by Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd and Far East Holdings Bhd.
Meanwhile, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, United Plantations Bhd and British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd were among the top decliners.
The bourse saw a total of 1.38 billion shares worth RM1.38 billion traded throughout the day, with 365 gainers and 409 decliners.
APFT Bhd was the most active stock, with some 57 million shares done.
According to Inter-Pacific Research Sdn Bhd head of research Pong Teng Siew, the day's trading was generally listless and very narrow, with gains seen mostly in the banking group from Hong Leong Financial Group, Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd.
Smaller cap stocks and the ACE market also did relatively well.
According to Leong, export-related technology stocks such as Unisem (M) Bhd outperformed the broader market with gains of some 1.1% in the technology index.
According to Reuters, Asian shares traded defensively today, undermined by fears of fund outflows amid a strengthening US dollar and rising US bond yields since Donald Trump was elected as the US president.
Japan's Nikkei reportedly rose 0.8% to hit a 10½-month high, thanks to the weaker yen.
Source: The Edge
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