BURSA Malaysia snapped its three days of losses to end higher today, supported by last-minute buying as some investors took position ahead of the 15th General Election (GE15) this weekend, a dealer said.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) improved 0.94 points, or 0.07%, to end at 1,449.32, its intraday high, from yesterday’s close of 1,448.38.

The market bellwether opened 1.82 points easier at 1,446.56, hit an intraday low of 1,441.57 at the mid-afternoon session. 

On the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers 521 to 313, while 405 counters were unchanged, 1,093 untraded and 47 others suspended.

Turnover widened to 2.63 billion units valued at RM1.85 billion versus 2.32 billion units valued at RM1.71 billion yesterday. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research VP Thong Pak Leng noted that market sentiment remained cautious amid the uncertainty ahead of GE15 while negative performance in the region weighed on investor sentiment.

“Key regional indices are mostly in the red today following a negative cue from Wall Street overnight. Investors were also digesting a mixed batch of the US economic data. 

“Meanwhile, Chinese technology stocks saw sharp losses after its multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd announced slashing its US$20 billion (RM91 billion) stakes in Meituan (shopping platform),” he told Bernama. 

Back home, Bursa heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd gained five sen to RM8.56, Public Bank Bhd added one sen to RM4.31, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd pushed up six sen to RM5.41 and IHH Healthcare Bhd grew by two sen to RM5.97, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was flat at RM8.62. 

Among the actives, Dagang NeXchange Bhd share price dropped 25 sen to 50.5 sen, Advance Synergy Bhd and Malayan United Industries Bhd inched up half-a-sen each to 12.5 sen and nine sen respectively, Perdana Petroleum Bhd increased two sen to 11 sen, while Top Glove Corp Bhd fell 3.5 sen to 92.5 sen and Citaglobal Bhd eased half-a-sen to 23 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 54.04 points to 10,398.77, the FBM Emas Index shed 15.72 points to 10,279.24, the FBM T100 Index slid 13.05 points to 10,010.81, the FBM 70 narrowed 94.55 points to 12,159.50 and the FBM ACE fell by 82.25 points to 4,914.92. 

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.17 of-a-point to 178.60 and the Plantation Index weakened 21.97 points to 6,880.23, while the Energy Index grew by 3.23 points to 723.33 and the Financial Services Index expanded 86.49 points to 16,175.80. 

The Main Market volume improved to 1.85 billion shares worth RM1.65 billion from 1.64 billion shares worth RM1.52 billion yesterday. 

Warrant turnover advanced to 399.82 million units valued at RM75.64 million from 317.42 million units valued at RM60.02 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume went up to 387.19 million shares worth RM120.68 million from 356.42 million shares worth RM127.41 million previously. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 480.06 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (384.96 million); construction (40.47 million); technology (389.84 million); SPAC (nil), financial services (78.45 million); property (114.98 million); plantation (20.72 million); REITs (3.41 million), closed/fund (5,100); energy (141.68 million); healthcare (140.35 million); telecommunications and media (20.66 million); transportation and logistics (20.34 million); and utilities (11.57 million). — Bernama/pic by TMR