KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia bounced on Tuesday morning due to bargain hunting following yesterday’s market weakness.
At 9.09 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 1.22 points to 1,615.59, compared to Monday’s close of 1,614.37.
The barometer index opened 2.63 points higher at 1,617.00.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers surpassing decliners 312 to 154, with 374 counters unchanged, 1,560 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 432.30 million units worth RM159.70mil.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, said Wall Street ended in positive territory with both the Nasdaq and S&P recording new highs ahead of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) stance on interest rates this Wednesday.
“Consensus views are that the Fed will keep rates steady following strong job data last Friday.
“As such, the Dow Jones gained 69 points, while the Nasdaq added 59 points as the US 10-year yield edged higher at 4.471 per cent,” he said.
He added that the positive development, coupled with an improvement in Brent crude prices closing higher at US$82 per barrel, may see the FBM KLCI hover between the 1,610-1,620 range today.
The Federal Open Market Committee meeting begins today and concludes on 12 June. The US inflation figures for May will also be released tomorrow.
Among heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional bagged six sen to RM13.78, KLK was 28 sen higher at RM21.14, CelcomDigi notched up two sen to RM3.86, MISC gained five sen to RM8.63, and Hong Leong Bank rose 10 sen to RM19.50.
As for the actives, SMTrack and Hubline were unchanged at 4.0 sen and 7.0 sen, respectively.
Sin-Kung Logistics lost half a sen to 17.5 sen, while Pegasus and PUC added half a sen to 1.0 sen and 6.5 sen, respectively. – Bernama