KUALA LUMPUR (May 16): Bursa Malaysia snapped a five-day losing streak to close higher on Tuesday (May 16), in tandem with the uptrend in regional bourses, buoyed by bargain hunting for selected heavyweights.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI had risen 6.13 points to 1,423.50, from 1,417.37 at Monday's close.
The barometer index, which opened 0.55 of a point better at 1,417.92 on Tuesday morning, fluctuated in the positive zone throughout the day, and hit a high of 1,426.12 at one point.
Gains in Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) lifted the KLCI by a combined 3.174 points.
TNB surged 21 sen or 2.21% to RM9.73, while PetChem rose nine sen or 1.29% to RM7.07.
Market breadth was positive, with advancers outpacing decliners 428 to 361, while 432 counters were unchanged, 1,021 untraded, and 23 others suspended.
Turnover decreased marginally to 2.57 billion units valued at RM1.51 billion, from 2.66 billion units worth RM1.41 billion on Monday.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong said the KLCI advanced on the back of bargain-hunting activities despite weaker-than-expected China economic data — retail sales and industrial production — that missed economists’ expectations.
Still, investors reckoned that the Chinese government might step up efforts to spur economic growth, he said.
“Going forward, we remain cautious ahead of the US debt ceiling negotiations. Should policy and lawmakers reach a consensus, we expect markets to cheer the event and vice versa.
“Back home, signs of bargain hunting have emerged, and we expect the recovery trend to extend, with the ongoing batch of corporate earnings releases remaining in focus,” he told Bernama.
Technically, Leong said the key index formed a bullish candle on Tuesday, and this might signify a potential short-term rebound towards the 1,437 and 1,450 resistance levels, while support is spotted at 1,413.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the key regional markets were mostly in negative territory on Tuesday, as investors were increasingly concerned about the significant gap between US lawmakers in their efforts to raise the country's borrowing limit and prevent a default.
“As for the local bourse, we believe bargain hunting will continue due to cheap valuations despite the heightened volatility of regional markets, hence we anticipate the benchmark index to move within the 1,420-1,435 range for the remainder of the week,” he said.
Among other heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) bagged four sen to RM8.73, while Public Bank Bhd at RM3.95, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd at RM4.99 and IHH Healthcare Bhd at RM5.92 had added one sen each.
As for the actives, VinVest Capital Holdings Bhd lost 9.5 sen to 8.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange Bhd gained 4.5 sen to 47 sen, while Fitters Diversified Bhd at five sen, Velesto Energy Bhd at 25 sen and Bahvest Resources Bhd at 12 sen were flat.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 42.75 points to 10,419.38, the FBMT 100 Index garnered 42.38 points to 10,115.49, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 51.84 points to 10,779.38, the FBM 70 Index expanded 51.65 points to 13,493.35, and the FBM ACE Index went up 19.56 points to 5,000.57.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index perked up 6.55 points to 833.94, the Financial Services Index climbed 41.75 points to 15,531.14, the Plantation Index rose 42.0 points to 6,933.72, and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.02 points to 166.74.
The Main Market volume slid to 1.52 billion units valued at RM1.27 billion, from 1.62 billion units valued at RM1.17 billion on Monday.
Warrant turnover decreased to 291.71 million units worth RM48.63 million, against 394.36 million units worth RM69.14 million a day earlier.
The ACE Market volume expanded to 753.82 million shares valued at RM193.39 million, versus 649.65 million shares valued at RM175.52 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 275.49 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services (349.74 million), construction (66.83 million), technology (224.57 million), special purpose acquisition companies (nil), financial services (47.42 million), property (253.53 million), plantation (22.22 million), real estate investment trusts (11.4 million), closed/funds (1,000), energy (103.78 million), healthcare (94.07 million), telecommunications and media (32.86 million), transportation and logistics (18.01 million), and utilities (24.0 million).
Source: The Edge
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