FBM KLCI ends marginally higher on interest in commodity, energy stocks

KUALA LUMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended slightly higher on Monday with buying mainly in commodity- and energy-related stocks, said an analyst.

At 5 pm, the key index rose 4.48 points to 1,450.57 from 1,446.09 at Friday’s close, after opening 0.60 of-a-point better at 1,446.69.

The FBM KLCI moved between 1,445.10 and 1,451.68 throughout the trading day today.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 498 to 446 while 415 counters were unchanged, 997 untraded and 26 others suspended.

Turnover went up to 3.31 billion units worth RM2.24 billion from Friday’s 3.19 billion units worth RM2.12 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expects the outlook of local equity market to remain positive due to continuous support from foreign funds despite the cautious sentiment globally.

“However, we advise investors to stay alert on the increasing market volatility and external uncertainties. As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,440-1,460 range for the week with immediate resistance at 1,460 and support at 1,440,” he told BK.

Among heavyweights, Public Bank gained one sen to RM4.14, CIMB advanced five sen to RM5.60, TNB surged 19 sen to RM10.14, Petronas Chemicals jumped 10 sen to RM6.90, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.99, while IHH Healthcare and CelcomDigi both declined four sen to RM5.96 and RM4.34, respectively.

Among the actives, Parkson advanced 4.5 sen to 34 sen, Aimflex and Classita inched up half-a-sen each to 22 sen and 7.5 sen, respectively, while Hong Seng was flat at six sen, and Ingenieur shed one sen to 11 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 22.25 points higher at 10,683.81, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 21.79 points to 10,369.32, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 27.44 points to 10,900.95, the FBM 70 Index erased 13.59 points to 14,085.93, and the FBM ACE Index increased 26.76 points to 5,290.90.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index went up 13.36 points to 16,267.46, the Industrial Products and Services Index perked up 1.80 points to 169.07, the Plantation Index advanced 24.22 points to 7,020.02, and the Energy Index eased 0.73 of-a-point to 814.53.

The Main Market volume was slightly higher at 2.34 billion units worth RM2.0 billion units against Friday’s 2.30 billion units valued at RM1.88 billion.

Warrants turnover expanded to 400.55 million units worth RM59.88 million from 359.69 million units worth RM48.86 million previously.

The ACE Market volume increased to 527.89 million shares valued at RM179.13 million from 524.22 million shares valued at RM182.18 million.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 439.72 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (635.80 million); construction (147.37 million); technology (220.93 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (56.99 million); property (326.98 million); plantation (32.20 million); REITs (11.99 million), closed/fund (192,800); energy (213.74 million); healthcare (47.56 million); telecommunications and media (46.77 million); transportation and logistics (63.21 million); and utilities (13.04 million). – BK