Bursa uptrend to persist in final weeks of 2023

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia stayed higher in early trade today after the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended at an intraday high yesterday due to last-minute buying support.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said some late bargain-hunting activities managed to pull the FBM KLCI out of its rut as it ended above the 1,445 level.

“Given this, we may even see window-dressing activities prevail as we approach the final two trading weeks of 2023.

“Therefore, we expect the index uptrend to persist and expect it to trend within the 1,445-1,455 range today,” he noted.

Thong also said that following the recent pull-back, some buying interest may return in the construction and technology counters today.

At 9.12am, the barometer index inched up 0.03% to 1,446.94 versus yesterday’s closing of 1,446.39.

The FBM KLCI opened 0.27 of-a-point easier at 1,446.12.

On the broader market, gainers surpassed decliners 159 to 143, while 270 counters were unchanged, 1,759 untraded and 23 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 219.46 million units worth RM124.03 million.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added two sen at RM9.07 while Public Bank, CIMB and Tenaga Nasional were all flat at RM4.25, RM5.78 and RM9.91, respectively.

Of the actives, Handal Energy and Velesto Energy both gained half-a-sen at 13.5 sen and 22 sen, respectively, but Sarawak Consolidated eased 1.5 sen to 79 sen and Reneuco shed half-a-sen to 22 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased by 2.40 points to 10,681.70, the FBMT 100 Index added 2.09 points to 10,349.75, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 1.20 points to 10,774.36, and the FBM ACE Index climbed 8.78 points to 5,117.94; but the FBM 70 Index erased 5.27 points to 14,084.96.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index ticked up 0.92 of-a-point to 16,365.27, the Plantation Index was 15.20 points better at 6,993.00, and the Energy Index advanced 2.95 points to 795.84.

The Industrial Products and Services Index, on the other hand, fell 0.25 point to 170.44.