KUALA LUMPUR — Bursa Malaysia has bucked the regional downtrend to open firmer today, as bargain-hunting emerged following the recent losses.
At 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.55 points, or 0.30% to 1,518.50 from 1,513.95 at Thursday’s close.
The market barometer opened 5.38 points higher at 1,519.33.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 221 to 99, while 276 counters were unchanged, 1,549 untraded and 25 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 345.28 million units worth RM165.44 million.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.04 per cent to 23,497.66, the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.26% to 3,332.18 and South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index was 0.54% easier at 2,348.39.
Despite the firmer opening today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd cautioned that the negative sentiment across global markets might weigh on Bursa Malaysia.
Rotational play among the lower liners would keep trading activities at a vibrant level, as investors continue to seek for higher yield investments, it said.
“Technically, the downward bias consolidation suggests that further weakness will come by, with the immediate support located at 1,490, followed by 1,480.
“Resistance is at 1,530, followed by 1,540,” it said in a note today.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank gained one sen to RM7.22, Top Glove bagged five sen to RM9.39, Hartalega garnered four sen to RM18.10, Tenaga added two sen to RM10.04 while Public Bank was flat at RM16.10.
The most active counters were led by Southern Cable, rising 2.5 sen to 36.5 sen, Mah Sing advanced 5.5 sen to 78 sen, Dataprep and Luster Industries perked one sen each to 15.5 sen and 15 sen, respectively, while Long Tai edged up half-a-sen to 15 sen.
Top gainers included F&N, accumulating 46 sen to RM32.86, Carlsberg strengthened 30 sen to RM19.20 and Heineken was 16 sen firmer at RM19.18.
Top losers such as Pentamaster slipped nine sen to RM5.21, Sam Engineering and Equipment shrank eight sen to RM6.69 and Samiden lost three sen to 77.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index elevated 35.99 points to 11,013.98, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 33.93 points to 10,824.25 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 53.27 points to 13,226.54.
The FBM 70 leapt 51.62 points to 14,605.76 and the FBM ACE jumped 52.50 points to 10,928.35.
Financial Services Index propped up 14.92 points to 12,478.51, the Plantation Index grew 9.85 points to 6,922.56 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eked out a small gain of 0.15 of-a-point to 144.40. — Bernama, October 16, 2020
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