KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed almost flat on Tuesday as buying interest rotated away from index heavyweights towards smaller-cap construction stocks, with sentiment affected by geopolitical uncertainty, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.39 of a point to 1,714.40 from Monday’s close of 1,714.79. The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,713.14 and moved between 1,710.44 and 1,714.50 throughout the trading session. The broader market was almost evenly balanced, with decliners leading gainers 548 to 546, while 598 counters were unchanged, 1,107 were untraded and 25 were suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.13 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Monday.
KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 15): The FBM KLCI ended on a positive note on the last trading day of this week, as investors were bargain hunting for blue chip stocks, despite a negative broader market.
At 5pm, the KLCI climbed 0.3% higher than the previous day's close to settle at 1,786.33 points, 0.36% higher than its close of 1,779.90 points seen last Friday.
"The improvement of the KLCI today is largely due to bargain hunting of major blue chip companies such as British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd. However, this is not an accurate picture of the broader market, which is still negative," a technical analyst at TA Securities Holdings Bhd told theedgemarkets.com.
Meanwhile, oil and gas counters are seeing a little rebound.
"The oil and gas sector is going through its rotational period and is seeing improvement in performance due to the increase in oil prices lately," he added.
Oil players such as Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Scomi Group Bhd, and Bumi Armada Bhd were among the top active counters today.
The KLCI saw some 2.15 billion shares worth some RM2.7 billion exchanging hands today. Losers outnumbered gainers at 447 versus 379, while 402 counters were unchanged.
BAT topped the gainers list, closing 1.1% higher at RM44.10, while Magni-Tech Industries Bhd dominated the decliners, shedding 15.62% to settle at RM6.16.
Reuters reported that North Korea's missile launch caused investors to worry but did not trigger the level of risk aversion seen last week.
Across Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.52% higher, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.11%. South Korea's KOSPI climbed 0.35%.
Source: The Edge
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