KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 — Bursa Malaysia extended gains for the third consecutive day today with the key index putting on 0.09 per cent, supported by bargain hunting in selected heavyweights led by financial services and telecommunications stocks, dealers said.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) pared most of its earlier gains to close at 1,394.67, up 1.22 points, from 1,393.45 at yesterday’s close.

The market bellwether opened 1.33 points lower at 1,392.12 this morning and moved between 1,391.76 and 1,402.44 throughout the session. It breached the 1,400 psychological level for a time during the mid-morning session but pulled back on profit-taking.

However, the broader market was negative as decliners surpassed gainers 452 to 334, while 422 counters were unchanged, 1,086 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Turnover decreased to 2.16 billion units worth RM1.59 billion versus 3.06 billion units worth RM1.80 billion yesterday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI closed marginally higher on continued bargain hunting, given the undemanding valuations.

"On the local front, we are cautiously optimistic amid the improvement in the local market sentiment and strong support from local institutional funds.

"Nonetheless, investors should be wary of the increasing volatility in both regional and global equity markets. We anticipate the FBM KLCI to test the 1,400 psychological level towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, the key regional indices ended mostly lower following the negative performance of global equities overnight following hawkish testimony by the United States (US) Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell to Congress yesterday.

"Powell reaffirmed that more interest rate increases are likely ahead until further progress is seen in bringing down inflation, and this weighed on market sentiment,” he told Bernama.

"Additionally, according to the June Global Economic Outlook by Fitch Ratings, the global growth forecast for the upcoming year has worsened due to the anticipated hike in interest rates across various regions worldwide,” he shared.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.92 per cent to 33,264.88, Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.05 per cent to 3,222.02, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.43 per cent to 2,593.70.

The markets were closed in Hong Kong and Shanghai for the Dragon Boat Festival, a national holiday.

On the local bourse, heavyweights Maybank, Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional added one sen each to RM8.75, RM3.92 and RM9.20, respectively, IHH Healthcare advanced five sen to RM5.91, while CIMB eased one sen at RM5.24.

Of the actives, Tanco warrant edged up 1.5 sen to 21.5 sen, Widad eased half-a-sen to 42 sen, Bumi Armada shed one sen to 47.5 sen, Sarawak Consolidated slid two sen to 42.5 sen, while V.S Industry warrant was flat at 3.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 0.64 of-a-point better at 10,251.10, the FBMT 100 Index added 1.63 points to 9,953.09 and the FBM ACE Index garnered 22.46 points to 5,110.48.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 0.72 of-a-point to 10,515.68 and the FBM 70 Index dipped 27.66 points to 13,450.22.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 53.23 points to 15,525.52, the Energy Index perked up 4.65 points to 788.54, the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 0.40 of-a-point to 158.89, and the Plantation Index declined 31.51 points to 6,692.86.

The Main Market volume shrank to 1.56 billion units valued at RM1.38 billion from 2.15 billion units worth RM1.55 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover tumbled to 86.18 million units worth RM7.30 million against 395.97 million units worth RM50.68 million previously.

The ACE Market volume increased to 512.18 million shares valued at RM202.06 million from 509.32 million shares worth RM202.59 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 296.99 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (406.73 million); construction (40.96 million); technology (93.83 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (83.57 million); property (240.78 million); plantation (30.99 million); REITs (8.69 million), closed/fund (39,000); energy (186.20 million); healthcare (71.06 million); telecommunications and media (27.53 million); transportation and logistics (33.65 million); and utilities (35.16 million). — Bernama