KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Bursa Malaysia ended mixed today with the key index easing slightly on selling in selected heavyweights, mainly in banking stocks, while the broader market showed a positive tone.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.13 points easier at 1,596.79 compared with Monday’s close of 1,598.92.

The barometer index opened 2.74 points better at 1,601.66, and moved between 1,594.41 and 1,601.68 throughout the session.

However, on the broader market, gainers thumped losers 653 to 308, while 416 counters were unchanged, 860 untraded, and 10 others suspended.

Total turnover increased to 3.87 billion units worth RM2.37 billion from 3.38 billion units worth RM2.06 billion on Monday.

A dealer noted that Bursa Malaysia opened higher but retreated after a few minutes of trading, succumbing to selling pressure in selected heavyweights and moved in a range-bound mode throughout the session.

"The FBM KLCI pulled back to below the 1,600-level on profit-taking in banking, healthcare, consumer, and telecommunication stocks, while the lower liners were seen extending their lead,” he said.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng told Bernama the market bellwether has been moving in a tight consolidation mode since the middle of March as investors remained cautious due to heightened regional volatility.

"However, we reckon the index is well supported above the 1,580 level while investors sentiment remains cautious. Hence, we expect the FBM KLCI to move in range-bound and hover within the 1,590 to 1,610 range for the remaining week,” he added.

Meanwhile, he also noted that investors are now looking to Wednesday’s release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting for clues on the interest rate hike, which the US central bank was widely expected to raise its interest rate by half a percentage point next month.

Regionally, Thong said key indices were mostly higher, tracking the overnight gains on Wall Street.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.10 per cent to 22,502.31, Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.19 per cent to 27,787.98, Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.82 per cent to 3,445.01 and South Korea’s Kospi inched up 0.05 per cent to 2,759.20.

On the local front, among heavyweights Maybank fell 10 sen to RM8.86, Public Bank eased two sen to RM4.70 while IHH Healthcare and CIMB shed three sen each to RM6.25 and RM5.27, respectively.

Petronas Chemicals rose 15 sen to RM9.85.

Of the actives, KNM Group, TWL Holdings and Techna-X edged up half-a-sen each to 19 sen, 8.5 sen and 8.5 sen, respectively, Dagang NeXchange rose eight sen to RM1.11, while Metronic eased half-a-sen at 1.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBMT 100 increased 4.85 points to 11,149.06, FBM Emas Index added 13.46 points to 11,493.62, FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 60.45 points to 12,139.98, FBM 70 rose 85.92 points to 14,027.02, and the FBM ACE surged 93.46 points to 5,864.52.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index improved by 2.39 points to 209.80 and the Plantation Index jumped 92.95 points to 8,173.27, while the Financial Services Index dropped 102.11 points to 16,719.96.

The Main Market volume rose to 2.85 billion shares worth RM2.11 billion compared with 2.24 billion shares worth RM1.73 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover dwindled to 132.61 million units valued at RM13.61 million against 386.84 million units valued at RM56.25 million.

The ACE Market volume increased to 884.44 million shares worth RM237.34 million versus 749.70 million shares worth RM277.10 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 419.91 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (652.76 billion), construction (190.11 million), technology (410.87 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (74.88 million), property (392.20 million), plantation (59.63 million), REITs (9.02 million), closed/fund (400), energy (475.19 million), healthcare (49.94 million), telecommunications and media (27.21 million), transportation and logistics (61.13 million), and utilities (23.04 million). — Bernama