KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — Bursa Malaysia marched upward modestly in early trade on Monday to continue trading at its 20-month high as buying interest prevails within the local front, supported by the upcoming earnings season.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FBM KLCI bagged 0.24 of-a-point to 1,533.79 from Friday’s close of 1,533.55.
The key index opened 0.20 points lower at 1,533.35.
Gainers outpaced losers 178 to 158 on the broader market, while 293 counters were unchanged, 1,669 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover stood at 246.41 million units worth RM55.58 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI closed at its highest level since June 2022 as buying by foreign funds continues.
“Given the US markets facing numerous headwinds, it is thus understandable that some funds will flow into this region to find some stability.
“We noticed retail participation remains low and will improve this week when everyone returns to work. For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,535-1,545 range,” he told Bernama.
Wall Street retreated as hotter-than-anticipated inflation data spooked traders with the possibility that the Federal Reserve may delay rate cuts.
The Dow Jones Index Average lost 145 points while the Nasdaq declined by 130 points as the US 10-year yield edged slightly higher at 4.281 per cent.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it expects traders to look for opportunities within fundamentally growing companies as Malaysia heads into corporate earnings season.
“We like the consumer and oil and gas sectors. Meanwhile, trading themes such as the potential revival of the Kuala Lumpur–Singapore high-speed rail and several construction projects may bode well for the construction, property, utilities and renewable energy sectors.
“The calling for proposals to design, implement and maintain the National Integrated Immigration System last year may expect trading interest within the technology sector as more than 10 companies have submitted their proposals,” it noted.
Among the heavyweights, YTL earned three sen to RM2.21, KLK was 20 sen higher at RM22.74 and YTL Power rose two sen to RM3.84.
Maybank lost two sen to RM9.41 and Petronas Chemicals was three sen lower at RM6.85.
As for the actives, TWL, Pan Malaysia and Destini were unchanged at 3.5 sen, 14 sen and 5.0 sen, respectively.
Hong Seng inched up half-a-sen to 2.5 sen and Minetech advanced one sen to 20 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 4.12 points higher at 11,409.38, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 1.17 points to 11,054.77 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased by 7.05 points to 11,465.54,
The FBM 70 Index eased 0.81 of-a-point to 15,400.00 and the FBM ACE Index went down 0.86 of-a-point to 4,904.43.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index reduced 22.42 points to 17,194.13, the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 0.53 of-a-point to 175.58, the Plantation Index added 13.70 points to 7,267.93, and the Energy Index rose 0.38 of-a-point to 895.46.
— Bernama
