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: The FBM KLCI staged a rebound today after the sharp fall in the past two trading days. Selling subsided following the overnight gain on Wall Street.
The benchmark index gained 24.23 points or 1.34% at 1,836.68 at the closing bell — it was indeed among top performers in the region. Some major regional bourses, such as Hong Kong and South Korea, continued to head south.
However, the upward trend on Bursa Malaysia was not across the board with 540 gainers versus 527 losers. The FBM Small-Cap Index was almost flat — it was only up 2.29 points or 0.01% at 16,285 points.
This indicates that market sentiment remains cautious following the fierce selldown.
A total of 3.32 billion shares worth RM3.5 billion were traded today.
"The Malaysian market was more resilient than its peers as most of the gainers were well supported today,” said TA Securities technical analyst Stephen Soo, noting that the positive impact of the overnight rebound on Wall Street seemed to have cooled off in the afternoon.
Soo opined that Malaysian stocks are not oversold, adding: “If external sentiment takes a turn for the worse, we will continue to see a selldown.”
He told theedgemarkets.com that the KLCI faces an immediate resistance level of 1,840, which was breached briefly in early trade today, and an immediate support level of 1,820.
However, assuming there is no further volatility in the US markets, Soo said Bursa Malaysia should stabilise, largely supported by banking stocks, which “have been holding well”, and a possible comeback of construction plays.
Nestle (M) Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd and Petronas Gas Bhd led gainers while Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd and Aeon Credit Bhd were the top decliners.
Sumatec Resources Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd and Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd were the most actively traded stocks. These stocks could have seen high momentum because of ongoing profit taking, Soo said.
Across Asia, the recovery on Wall Street did not bring much cheer to the Far East markets. China’s CSI, which tracks A-share stocks on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, fell 2.73%. Meanwhile South Korea's KOSPI index also closed down 2.31% while the Hang Seng Index ended down 0.89%.
Source: The Edge
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