KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — Bursa Malaysia finished the day marginally higher as bargain-hunting emerged following yesterday’s selldown.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed 0.30 per cent, or 4.44 points higher, to 1,439.77 from Wednesday’s closing of 1,435.33.

The benchmark index opened 0.61 of-a-point firmer at 1,435.94 and moved between 1,435.86 and 1,441.35 throughout the trading session.

The broader market was positive with gainers beating decliners 575 to 300, while 425 counters were unchanged, 1,050 untraded and 14 suspended.

Turnover increased to 3.38 billion units worth RM1.93 billion from 2.79 billion units valued at RM1.79 billion yesterday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the key regional indices also showed positive gains as the US Federal Reserve opted to maintain its benchmark interest rates, contributing to the upbeat sentiment.

"We believe the outlook for regional equities remains upbeat due to favourable interest rate expectations.

"On the domestic front, we are positive about the decision to temporarily halt rate hikes in both the US and Europe and we project an uptick in investor sentiment in the immediate future,” Thong told Bernama.

To recap, the benchmark index has maintained a tight trading range for more than three weeks and is pending a breakout at around 1,445.

"If this level is successfully breached and sustained for a longer period, we see potential for the FBM KLCI to make further advances.

"Driven by renewed optimism, we expect the market to maintain its buying momentum, with the benchmark index trending within the 1,435-1,450 range towards the weekend,” he added.

Meanwhile, on Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 3.00 per cent during its last meeting of the year today, an analyst said this would be good for the economy as many were still recalibrating from the previous hike in OPR and the increase in the cost of living post-pandemic.

"The unchanged rate is good for now because we can have more time to stabilise our finances. Also, purchasing power would not decline due to shocks,” she said.

Among the heavyweights, Axiata was 11 sen higher at RM2.29, Hong Leong Financial Group rose 28 sen to RM17.50, CelcomDigi increased five sen to RM4.25, while Dialog and Sime Darby added two sen each to RM2.08 and RM2.29 respectively.

Of the actives, SMTrack gained two sen to five sen, Kanger fell one sen to 11.5 sen, Ranhill Utilities rose five sen to 78.5 sen, Widad added half-a-sen to 45.5 sen, while BSL Corp lost half-a-sen to 3.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 50.85 points stronger at 10,632.05, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 46.67 points to 10,305.10 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 60.03 points to 10,824.74.

The FBM 70 Index jumped 128.44 points to 14,053.16 and the FBM ACE Index was up 25.46 points to 5,023.98.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index perked up 0.64 of-a-point to 170.65, while the Plantation Index put on 21.84 points to 6,907.90, the Energy Index added 13.16 points to 870.81, and the Financial Services Index expanded 33.77 points to 16,235.51.

The Main Market volume improved to 1.93 billion units valued at RM1.61 billion compared with 1.85 billion units worth RM1.55 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover expanded to 480.69 million units worth RM77.09 million against 294.17 million units valued at RM45.74 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume soared to 964.52 million shares valued at RM240.08 million from 643.01 million shares worth RM200.70 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 397.72 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (474.10 million); construction (156.38 million); technology (165.02 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (50.88 million); property (201.18 million); plantation (23.57 million); REITs (8.27 million), closed/fund (9,500); energy (146.36 million); healthcare (44.00 million); telecommunications and media (30.12 million); transportation and logistics (35.25 million); and utilities (197.94 million). — Bernama