KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 — Bursa Malaysia ended at its intraday high today, in sync with the upbeat performance in regional bourses as market sentiment turned positive, fuelling investors’ risk appetite.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 8.40 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 1,391.46 from 1,383.06 at Monday’s close.
The barometer index opened 3.03 points higher at 1,386.09 this morning and hit an intraday low of 1,384.84 in the mid-afternoon session.
The broader market was also positive as gainers surpassed losers 471 to 368, while 418 counters were unchanged, 993 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 2.83 billion units worth RM1.86 billion versus 2.24 billion units worth RM1.51 billion yesterday.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the FBM KLCI ended higher as sentiment was boosted after authorities in China extended support for property developers in the republic.
He said local investors however were still a tad cautious ahead of the United States Consumer Price Index tomorrow.
“Given the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) lack of evidence that core inflation is on a downtrend and the main reason Fed officials want at least two more rate hikes, then if we get a sticky core inflation print, that could be perceived as negative for global risk since it would drive the US yields higher.
“On a sectoral basis, it very much looks like all areas are in a wait-and-watch mode,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank increased seven sen to RM8.74, Public Bank inched up one sen to RM3.87, IHH Healthcare perked six sen to RM5.88, while CIMB and Tenaga Nasional went up two sen each to RM5.21 and RM9.05 respectively.
Of the actives, EP Manufacturing surged 27 sen to 98 sen, Widad put on half-a-sen to 42 sen, Sarawak Consolidated ticked up 2.5 sen to 48.5 sen, while BSL Corporation and Jade Marvel were flat at four sen and 22 sen, respectively.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI continued its upwards trajectory as market sentiment continues to improve across the region.
He said, regionally, the key indices closed mostly higher following a positive cue from global equities overnight.
“Meanwhile, investors are thrilled by the proactive measures taken by China’s regulators to exert pressure on financial institutions, urging them to facilitate more favourable terms for property companies.
“This encouragement includes promoting negotiations to extend outstanding loans, providing a positive outlook for investors,” he said.
On the other hand, Thong said the US Fed officials stated that the central bank will need to continue with its tightening measures throughout the year in order to effectively bring inflation back down to the targeted two per cent goal, hence, he advised investors to stay cautious.
“Despite the strong backing from local institutions, the prevailing cautious sentiment suggests that the benchmark index is expected to remain rangebound for the foreseeable future. Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,380-1,395 range for the rest of the week,” he added.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 57.90 points firmer at 10,256.55, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 56.20 points to 9,948.90, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 67.16 points better at 10,544.36, the FBM 70 Index advanced 60.20 points to 13,523.83, and the FBM ACE Index rose 61.09 points to 5,219.53.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 64.53 points to 15,466.88, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.17 of-a-point to 159.05, the Energy Index slid 4.22 points to 802.22, and the Plantation Index climbed 73.73 points to 6,901.43.
The Main Market volume increased to 2.01 billion units valued at RM1.60 billion from 1.61 billion units valued at RM1.31 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover expanded to 311.74 million units worth RM48.00 million against 240.71 million units worth RM36.50 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume swelled to 504.39 million shares valued at RM213.07 million from 381.81 million shares valued at RM159.22 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 275.91 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (820.21 million); construction (113.19 million); technology (192.53 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (79.91 million); property (221.81 million); plantation (27.48 million); REITs (4.88 million), closed/fund (270,700); energy (108.37 million); healthcare (40.37 million); telecommunications and media (61.13 million); transportation and logistics (34.37 million); and utilities (31.92 million). — Bernama