Bursa bounces back from early dip on selective buying
KUALA LUMPUR : Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower today but quickly rebounded, driven by renewed buying interest in selected heavyweights, as recent losses enticed investors back into the market.
At 9.25am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.85 points to 1,541.65, up from Tuesday's close of 1,536.80.
The benchmark index had opened 0.24 of-a-point lower at 1,536.56.
Turnover stood at 389.23 million shares, valued at RM156.08 million.
Market breadth was positive, with 268 gainers outnumbering 167 decliners. Further, 276 counters were unchanged, 1,624 untraded, and nine suspended.
While overall market conditions may remain soft pending the outcome of trade talks, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd believes traders may focus on defensive sectors today, such as consumer products and services, which have large stock-keeping unit bases that could benefit from margin improvements amid lower import costs.
'Meanwhile, with ongoing contract wins in Johor and potential momentum in Penang, we see a trading opportunity in ITMAX following its breakout, supported by healthy volumes.'
'We also see accumulation opportunities in ReachTen, which we believe remains undervalued,' it said in a note today.
Another dealer noted that the market will closely watching the outcome of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on May 6–7, as well as the Bank Negara Malaysia's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on May 7–8 this week.
Among heavyweights, Maybank gained three sen to RM9.99, Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare each added four sen to RM14.10 and RM7.04, respectively. CIMB advanced two sen to RM6.92, while Public Bank slipped two sen to RM4.45.
In active trade, Sapura Energy, Reach Ten, and Avangaad each rose by half-a-sen to 4.5 sen, 56.5 sen, and 28 sen, respectively, while Pos Malaysia gained 3.5 sen to 30.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved by 39.91 points to 11,453.38, the FBMT 100 Index increased by 39.12 points to 11,226.77, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index strengthened by 54.44 points to 11,365.65.
The FBM 70 Index gained 71.46 points to 16,133.69, but the FBM ACE Index declined by 0.74 of-a-point to 4,638.03.
Across sectors, the Financial Services Index climbed 20.31 points to 18,149.50, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.87 of-a-point to 151.35, and the Energy Index added 4.91 points to 683.53. The Plantation Index, however, shed 7.46 points to 7,277.50.
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