KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index closed lower on Thursday amid profit-taking in big-cap stocks, as investors shifted their focus to smaller-cap counters against the backdrop of weaker regional market performance. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 7.26 points or 0.43 per cent to 1,669.57 from Wednesday’s close of 1,676.83. The FBM KLCI opened 2.61 points lower at 1,674.22 and moved between 1,666.34 and 1,674.44 throughout the day. On the broader market, gainers led losers by 579 to 489, while 565 counters were unchanged, 1,016 untraded, and 12 suspended. Turnover was slightly higher at 2.79 billion units worth RM2.84 billion from Wednesday’s 2.73 billion units worth RM2.76 billion.
KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): The FBM KLCI gained 15.79 points or 0.91% on local instutional support and bargain hunting after the index's recent decline.
Analysts said today Malaysian stock market valuations appeared attractive after the KLCI's recent drop below 1,700 points. At 5pm today, the KLCI closed at its intraday high of 1,753.07 points.
“We are quite bullish in the short term, not just (on) the KLCI, (as) we think the emerging market valuation is quite attractive now, and local funds are supporting the market.
“For the index (KLCI), we think 1,700 is a strong support now, and 1,760 is the next resistant level," Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior research analyst Kenneth Leong told theedgemarkets.com.
Across Bursa Malaysia, 2.63 billion shares were traded for RM2.18 billion.
Top gainers included newly-listed Revenue Group Bhd, which was also the most-actively traded stock with some 188 million shares changing hands. Revenue, which was listed on the ACE Market today, added 25.5 sen to close at 62.5 sen.
Across Asian stock markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.43%, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.34% while Hong Kong Hang Seng declined 0.23%.
Reuters reported that the world's major stock markets were mostly firmer on Wednesday as a bullish outlook from the head of the US central bank buoyed the dollar, lifted bond yields and sent safe-haven gold to a one-year trough.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stuck with an upbeat assessment on the US economy while downplaying the impact of global trade risks on the outlook for rate rises.
Source: The Edge
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