KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — Bursa Malaysia ended mixed today with the barometer index easing 0.08 per cent after going through a choppy trading day, with buying interests spotted mainly in plantation and oil and gas counters, while the broader market was slightly positive on mild buying support.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.35 points weaker at 1,585.81 from 1,587.16 at yesterday’s close.

After opening 1.63 points easier at 1.585.53, the key index moved between 1,583.97 and 1,591.67 throughout the trading session.

On the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 504 to 403, while 441 counters were unchanged, 965 untraded, and 24 others suspended.

Total turnover rose to 3.09 billion units valued at RM2.84 billion from 2.44 billion units valued at RM2.27 billion yesterday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said buying interest centred mainly in plantation and oil and gas counters during the trading session, while profit-taking were seen in banking and healthcare stocks.

"The FBM KLCI has been in a consolidation mode since the middle of March as investors were wary of the heightened regional volatility and geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. We reckon that investor sentiment will remain cautious over the short term, hence, we expect the FBM KLCI to move in a narrow range and hover at the 1,575-1,595 range for the remainder of the week,” he told Bernama.

Thong also said that most key regional indices closed higher as higher commodity prices triggered strong buying in interests in energy and materials sectors.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 increased 1.48 per cent to 27,224.11 Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 3.15 per cent to 21,889.28, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.89 per cent to 2,710.0, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.11 per cent to 3,351.97.

Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank decreased two sen to RM8.83, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare were down one sen each to RM4.62 and RM6.51, respectively, CIMB erased five sen to RM5.30, while Petronas Chemicals rose 18 sen to RM9.58.

Of the actives, market debutant Farm Fresh added 37 sen to RM1.72, CSH Alliance perked up one sen to 16 sen, Fitters Diversified dipped 1.5 per cent to 17 sen, AT Systematization eased half-a-sen to two sen, while Dagang NeXchange was flat at RM1.03.

Top gainers, Kuala Lumpur Kepong jumped 72 sen to RM25.70, PMB Technology was 48 sen higher at RM17.36, Greatech Technology gained 21 sen to RM4.43, while D&O Green Technology and Complete Logistics Services soared 20 sen each to RM4.49 and RM3.29, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went up 14.48 points to 11,302.28, FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 29.15 points to 11,914.16, FBM 70 added 87.70 points to 13,537.09, FBMT 100 Index advanced 9.31 points to 10,998.34, and the FBM ACE was 21.83 points better at 5,435.41.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 1.35 points to 201.81, the Financial Services Index fell 59.61 points to 16,585.97, while the Plantation Index surged 184.47 points to 8,053.33.

The Main Market volume rose to 2.26 billion shares worth RM2.67 billion compared with 1.67 billion shares worth RM2.08 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover increased to 369.06 million units valued at RM65.29 million against 339.32 million units valued at RM68.21 million.

The ACE Market volume expanded to 462.95 million shares worth RM110.47 million versus 437.34 million shares worth RM122.94 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 538.52 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (840.64 million), construction (31.95 million), technology (219.89 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (70.33 million), property (179.97 million), plantation (113.16 million), REITs (2.98 million), closed/fund (67,600), energy (167.84 million), healthcare (31.11 million), telecommunications and media (18.64 million), transportation and logistics (19.44 million), and utilities (23.32 million). — Bernama