Bursa Malaysia ends higher, winning run extends to 6th day

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended higher on Monday, extending its winning streak for the sixth day, with buying focused mainly on energy, banks, and commodity-related stocks.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 2.83 points to 1,465.28 from Friday’s close of 1,462.45.

The barometer index opened 0.89 of-a-point lower at 1,461.56 and moved between 1,460.42 and 1,468.74 throughout the day.

However, the broader market was slightly negative as losers surpassed gainers 459 to 373, while 546 counters were unchanged, 942 untraded, and 27 others suspended.

Turnover rose to 4.81 billion units worth RM3.02 billion from 3.77 billion units worth RM3.40 billion last Friday.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said, in contrast to the local bourse, the key regional indices finished mostly lower due to profit-taking activities following the recent rally.

“On the other hand, investors are cautiously monitoring hints of a change to Japan’s central bank’s longstanding near-zero interest rate policy,” he told BK.

The Bank of Japan is slated to announce its interest rate decision on Tuesday, December 19.

Back home, Thong said the local stock market is expected to remain cautiously optimistic, driven by its enticing valuations, rising trading volume, and consistent support from foreign inflows, although he acknowledged the possibility of profit-taking activities.

“The benchmark index has once again tested the 1,465 resistance level.

“Should the FBM KLCI be able to break and hold above the 1,465 resistance level for an extended period, we anticipate an additional upward potential.

“We foresee the benchmark index trending within the range of 1,455-1,475 for the week, with the next resistance level at 1,500 and support at 1,450,” he added.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank added four sen to RM4.35, CIMB increased 11 sen to RM5.94, Tenaga Nasional and Petronas Chemicals edged up four sen each to RM9.99 and RM7.19 respectively, while Maybank was flat at RM9.00.

Of the actives, Top Glove put on six sen to 96 sen, Careplus advanced 11.5 sen to 46.5 sen, Critical Holdings soared 22 sen to 57 sen, Minetech perked up one sen to 13 sen, while Zen Tech was flat at two sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 22.55 points to 10,858.43, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 22.05 points to 10,524.32, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 15.03 points to 10,984.78.

The FBM 70 Index climbed 37.43 points to 14,511.55 and the FBM ACE Index shed 19.27 points to 5,161.40.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 88.55 points to 16,525.51, the Energy Index fell 2.89 points to 813.40, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.05 of-a-point to 172.42, while the Plantation Index dipped 14.63 points to 7,031.94.

The Main Market volume swelled to 2.81 billion units valued at RM2.60 billion against 2.47 billion units valued at RM3.1 billion on Friday.

Warrants turnover increased to 746.97 million units worth RM95.73 million from 666.24 million units worth RM102.66 million previously.

The ACE Market volume soared to 1.25 billion shares valued at RM327.28 million versus 630.38 million shares valued at RM203.94 million last Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 382.75 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (577.57 million); construction (156.98 million); technology (144.02 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (95.11 million); property (268.10 million); plantation (18.41 million); REITs (9.79 million), closed/fund (4,000); energy (169.83 million); healthcare (804.06 million); telecommunications and media (47.13 million); transportation and logistics (30.42 million); and utilities (102.25 million). – BK