KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — Bursa Malaysia’s barometer index ended on a positive note today as domestic sentiment was lifted by earnings optimism while bargain hunters nibbled on heavyweight shares after a recent sell-off.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) bagged 6.54 points to 1,451.72 compared to last Friday’s closing of 1,445.18.

The index opened 0.28 of-a-point easier at 1,444.90, its intraday low, and hit an intraday high of 1,453.99 throughout the day.

On the broader market, gainers edged past losers 489 to 481, while 402 counters were unchanged, 1,007 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover narrowed to 3.08 billion units valued at RM1.77 billion from Friday’s 3.19 billion units valued at RM1.61 billion.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said bargain-hunting activities were seen in telecommunications and commodity-related stocks.

"Regionally, key indices displayed mixed trends as investors exercised caution ahead of the United States inflation data tonight and a US-China summit.

"Meanwhile, China is set to release its monthly economic indicators on Wednesday, and Japan will unveil its latest growth numbers,” he told Bernama.

Nevertheless, Thong maintained a cautiously optimistic outlook on the domestic market, ahead of the US key economic indicators, which are widely expected to determine the path of the Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rates ahead.

Investors are hoping that October’s reading of the US Consumer Price Index will ease, with markets awaiting signals about how long the Fed will keep its rates at the current high level.

"Consequently, we expect the benchmark index to fluctuate within the range of 1,445-1,465 for the remainder of the week,” he noted.

Bursa heavyweights CelcomDigi and Petronas Chemicals were eight sen higher at RM4.33 and RM7.27, respectively.

Genting jumped 13 sen to RM4.28 and Sime Darby Plantation increased six sen to RM4.39.

Of the actives, Hong Seng and Widad added half-a-sen sen to 5.0 sen and 46 sen, respectively, while Fitters was down half-a-sen to 5.0 sen.

Main Market volume was lower at 2.03 billion units worth RM1.52 billion compared with Friday’s 2.11 billion units worth RM1.37 billion.

Warrants turnover eased to 352.73 million units valued at RM47.07 million from 385.17 million units valued at RM51.22 million.

The ACE Market volume improved to 681.64 million shares worth RM199.53 million from 677.09 million shares worth RM184.83 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 331.17 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (505.49 million); construction (75.71 million); technology (407.09 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (42.34 million); property (173.21 million); plantation (110.48 million); REITs (7.53 million), closed/fund (27,500); energy (94.88 million); healthcare (62.25 million); telecommunications and media (31.40 million); transportation and logistics (52.72 million); and utilities (138.58 million). — Bernama