KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 15): Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower but rebounded thereafter, driven by bargain hunting in selected heavyweights, led by the financial services counters.
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At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.23 points to 1,557.74 from Tuesday’s close of 1,555.51.
It opened 0.65 of-a-point lower at 1,554.86.
Market breadth was positive with gainers edging past losers 165 to 158, while 277 counters were unchanged, 1,668 untraded and six others suspended.
Turnover stood at 169.04 million units worth RM84.62 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said concerns over the possible interest rate exemption for loan moratorium repayments, coupled with the possibility of windfall tax imposition had spooked the market.
“However, we believe the market may be turning to the ‘oversold’ position soon and expect bargain-hunting activities to emerge.
“Meanwhile, plantation and oil and gas counters may gain traction following increasing crude palm oil and crude oil prices,” it said in a note today,
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The brokerage believes that investors will focus on the recovery theme sectors such as aviation and consumer-related following business reopenings under the National Recovery Plan.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd, Public Bank Bhd and RHB Bank Bhd rose one sen each to RM8.30, RM4.01 and RM5.36, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was flat at RM7.92 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd eased two sen to RM10.16.
Of the actives, Emico Holdings Bhd added 4.5 sen to 48.5 sen, Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd bagged 1.5 sen to 54.5 sen and Techna-X Bhd increased half-a-sen to 9.5 sen.
Top gainers were Hong Leong Bank Bhd, which perked 18 sen to RM18.64; Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, which expanded 16 sen to RM18.46; and Widetech (Malaysia) Bhd, which improved 12 sen to RM5.77.
Top losers were Sam Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd, which lost 46 sen to RM14.24; Gets Global Bhd, which deducted 15 sen to RM1.80, and PMB Technology Bhd, which fell 13 sen to RM7.02.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index recovered 16.71 points to 11,411.51, the FBMT 100 Index was 17.85 points higher at 11,105.65, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 8.01 points to 12,499.05.
The FBM 70 firmed 31.69 points to 14,991.11, while the FBM ACE inched up 0.18 of-a-point to 7,139.47.
Sector wise, the Plantation Index shed 24.7 points to 6,477.69, the Industrial Products and Services Index went up 0.02 of-a-point to 197.96, and the Financial Services Index advanced 51.05 points to 15,250.87. -BERNAMA -The Edge Markets