KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia ended choppy trading with modest gains today, driven by late buying in selected plantation and banking heavyweights, although cautious trading was seen throughout the day amid the reshuffling of the cabinet ministers earlier in the morning.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.73 of-a-point to 1,447.12 from yesterday’s closing of 1,446.39.
The key index opened 0.27 of-a-point easier at 1,446.12 and moved between 1,444.26 and 1,447.72 throughout the day.
Market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing advancers by 483 to 388, while 457 counters were unchanged, 1,003 untraded, and 23 others suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 3.28 billion units worth RM2.38 billion from 3.82 billion units worth RM2.47 billion yesterday.
Apex Securities Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong said the FBM KLCI ended higher but on a flattish note at less than one point as caution prevails following the reshuffling of Malaysia’s cabinet ministers.
“The performance took cues from the better performance recorded on Wall Street overnight and was in line with the mostly positive performance across regional markets,” he said.
Leong also said that, looking ahead, Bursa Malaysia is expected to see sideways consolidation on the uncertainty surrounding the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate decision to be announced tomorrow.
The Fed has kicked off its last monetary policy meeting of the year today. The meeting held on December 12 to 13 would determine the the central bank’s funds rate decision.
“Meanwhile, investors will also be keeping a close tab on the US Producer Price Index data to be released tomorrow. Also, the absence of fresh catalysts on the domestic front are limiting further upsides at this point of time,” he added.
Leong noted that from the technical perspective, the FBM KLCI has formed a hammer candle after recovering all its intraday losses and may likely trend mildly higher.
“Immediate resistance are located at 1,465 and 1,488, while support is spotted at 1,430,” he added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga rose two sen each to RM9.07 and RM9.93, respectively, CIMB gained one sen to RM5.79, Public Bank was flat at RM4.25, while Petronas Chemicals dipped eight sen to RM7.09.
Of the actives, Sarawak Cable added 15 sen to 21 sen, Asdion was 1.5 sen better at nine sen, Sarawak Consolidated shed 3.5 sen to 77 sen, and Handal was flat at 13 sen. – December 12, 2023