KUALA LUMPUR – Shares on Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher today, buoyed by bargain hunting activities.
At 9.02am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 0.82 of-a-point to 1,493.22 from 1,492.40 at Wednesday’s close.
The market barometer opened 0.55 of-a-point better at 1,492.95.
On the scoreboard, gainers led losers 202 to 122, while 271 counters were unchanged, 1,571 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 262.55 million units worth RM94.86 million.
The local bourse had bucked the trend set by its regional peers which had been tracking the volatile United States (US) stock markets as talks on the US stimulus plans continues.
Dow Jones, S&P and Nasdaq were all marginally lower at the close yesterday.
“The US futures remained lower, hence regional markets’ sentiment is likely to be cautious due to the weakness in US markets,” Rakuten Trade said in a note today.
On the local market, the brokerage firm expects bargain hunting to bring the KLCI back to the 1,500 level, and urged investors to buy the dips and focus on the healthcare, glove, mask and other PPE-related stocks, as well as small/mid cap stocks.
Of the heavyweights, both Maybank and Public Bank fell two sen to RM7.13 and RM15.74, respectively, while rubber glove makers, Top Glove and Hartalega have rebounded today after falling due to profit taking yesterday.
Top Glove added five sen to RM8.93, while Hartalega was four sen higher at RM17.88.
The most active counters were led by Key Alliance’s ordinary rights, which fell 1.5 sen to half-a-sen; Velesto and Alam Maritim were both flat at 12 sen and three sen, respectively; while Mlabs was half-a-sen better at three sen.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific, which accumulated 32 sen to RM20.40, as well as United Plantation which gained 18 sen to RM14.60 and Kossan Rubber which was 14 sen higher at RM7.46.
Top losers were Hartalega warrants, Globetronics warrants and Supermax warrants which lost nine sen, five sen and four sen to RM1.41, RM2.90 and RM1.04, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 2.72 points to 10,840.06, the FBMT 100 Index improved 11.62 points to 10,641.61 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 7.02 points to 12,982.26.
The FBM 70 advanced 38 points to 14,349.66 and the FBM ACE surged 44.18 points to 10,838.73.
The Financial Services Index depreciated 10.92 points to 12,391.96, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.13 point to 145.29 and the Plantation Index was 3.63 points higher at 6,863.94. – Bernama, October 22, 2020
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