KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia snapped seven consecutive days of losses to end higher yesterday as bargain-hunting emerged following the recent sell-off, says an analyst.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 0.35% or 5.57 points to 1,590.95 from Tuesday’s close of 1,585.38.
The benchmark index opened 1.01 points better at 1,586.39 and moved between 1,581.76 and 1,593.42 throughout the trading session.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 674 to 433, with 465 counters unchanged, 873 untraded and 45 others suspended.
Turnover decreased to 4.73 billion units worth RM3.22bil from the previous day’s 5.23 billion units worth RM3.70bil.
UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI rebounded into positive territory bolstered by favourable market developments.
He said the utilities and healthcare stocks led the rebound, with blue-chip stocks in these sectors remaining attractive to bargain hunters, particularly after last week’s price corrections.
“Today’s market performance was further supported by the rebound of semiconductor stock Nvidia on Tuesday, which has finally bounced back after a 15% drop over the past three days, drawing buyers off the sidelines.
“Additionally, the US Consumer Confidence Survey for June fell to 100.4 from 101.3 in May, providing some leeway for the Federal Reserve to consider an interest rate cut,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng reckoned that the market undertone would remain steady due to improving investor sentiment.
“The investors are now favouring utilities, banks, and smaller-cap stocks in the technology and healthcare sectors.
“As such, we expect the index to stay positive going forward, spurred by a renewed sense of optimism,” he said.
Thong projects the FBM KLCI to trend higher in the range of 1,585 to 1,600 for the rest of the week.
Of the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd added five sen to RM9.96, Public Bank Bhd inched up one sen to RM4.01 and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gained eight sen to RM6.76.
Meanwhile, Tenaga Nasional Bhd dropped eight sen to RM13.92 and IHH Healthcare Bhd slid one sen to RM6.27.
As for the most active counters, Ingenieur Gudang Bhd was flat at 6.5 sen, SBH Marine Holdings Bhd rose 3.5 sen to 32 sen, JCY International Bhd and SNS Network Technology Bhd garnered four sen each to 73.5 sen and 76 sen, respectively
Meanwhile, My E.G. Services Bhd eased two sen to RM1.02.
