KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Bursa Malaysia pared most of its earlier losses to close off its intraday low today, falling 0.3 per cent, after some buying activity emerged in oil and gas (O&G) and telecommunication stocks during the final hour of trading, a trader said.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 4.80 points to end at 1,482.57 compared with yesterday’s closing of 1,487.37.

The benchmark index opened 2.45 points easier at 1,484.92 this morning at its intraday high, hit a low of 1,477.54 during the mid-morning session.

On the broader market, decliners beat gainers 467 to 407, while 416 counters were unchanged, 1,028 untraded, and seven others suspended.

Total turnover declined to 2.03 billion units worth RM1.55 billion from 2.18 billion units worth RM1.56 billion yesterday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said despite the cautious market undertone, bargain hunting is expected to prevail given the cheap valuations of local stocks, continuous inflow of foreign investors and improving corporate earnings in the second quarter of Calendar Year 2022.

"As such, we expect the benchmark index to trend slightly higher within the 1,480 to 1,500 range for the remainder of the week, with immediate support at 1,460 and resistance at 1,500,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, key regional markets were lower following the negative cue on Wall Street overnight amid speculation of another interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.19 per cent to 28,452.75, South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.10 per cent to 2,435.34 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 0.78 per cent to 19,503.25.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank earned one sen to RM4.60, Maybank slipped four sen to RM8.83, Petronas Chemicals shed 14 sen to RM8.56, and IHH Healthcare was one sen lower at RM6.34.

Of the actives, O&G-related counters, Borneo Oil was flat at 2.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum added 7.5 sen at 97.5 sen and Sapura Energy was half-a-sen better at 4.5 sen.

Among the top gainers, Heng Yuan Refining Company jumped RM1.29 to RM5.59, Petron Malaysia soared RM1.02 to RM5.86 and Dialog rose nine sen to RM2.35.

On the index board, the FBM ACE Index climbed 36.80 points to 4,891.80, FBMT 100 Index fell 25.87 points to 10,277.53, FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 19.05 points to 10,648.62, FBM 70 eased 1.97 points to 12,631.87, while the FBM Emas Index slid 23.39 points to 10,532.96.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index decreased 76.54 points to 16,538.59, the Plantation Index dipped 111.78 points to 7,059.85, Industrial Products and Services Index erased 1.25 points to 180.42, while the Energy Index rose 47.48 points to 712.88.

The Main Market volume slipped to 1.33 billion shares worth RM1.32 billion from 1.34 billion shares worth RM1.22 billion yesterday.

Warrants’ turnover improved to 367.06 million units valued at RM59.58 million from 329.54 million units valued at RM53.58 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume dwindled to 321.66 million shares worth RM166.68 million from 514.66 million shares worth RM288.0 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 151.74 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (400.08.12 million), construction (40.96 million), technology (164.57 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (45.13 million), property (72.40.74 million), plantation (22.50 million), REITs (5.48 million), closed/fund (500), energy (270.04 million), healthcare (103.55 million), telecommunications and media (19.30 million), transportation and logistics (27.69 million), and utilities (13.55 million). — Bernama