KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — Bursa Malaysia closed higher today as bargain hunting emerged following yesterday’s sell-down, amid the mostly lower regional market performance, said an analyst.

At 5 pm today, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended 0.63 per cent or 9.27 points firmer to 1,462.37 from yesterday’s close of 1,453.10.

The benchmark index, which opened 0.56 points easier at 1,452.54, moved between 1,450.17 and 1,465.69 throughout the trading session.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 715 to 352, while 382 counters were unchanged, 779 untraded and 22 suspended.

Turnover surged to 5.63 billion units worth RM3.12 billion from 4.91 billion units valued at RM2.00 billion yesterday.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said buying interest were also seen in small-cap stocks, particularly in the healthcare, property, and utilities sectors.

He said the downbeat regional market performance was triggered by the technology-led slide on Wall Street overnight, putting major technology firms, including chipmakers, under pressure following Barclays’ downgrade of Apple.

Simultaneously, investors were warily awaiting minutes from the United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed) later today.

"Back home, we maintain our cautiously optimistic view on the local stock market, supported by its appealing valuations and the increasing trading volume.

"Therefore, we are maintaining our weekly FBM KLCI target between 1,450 and 1,470 with immediate resistance at 1,465 followed by 1,500, and support at 1,450,” Thong told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, YTL Power International soared 23 sen to RM2.80, Petronas Chemicals added 1.5 sen to RM7.30, YTL Corporation increased 9.0 sen to RM2.01, Press Metal Aluminium perked up 8.0 sen to RM4.94, CIMB gained 6.0 sen to RM5.90, and MISC rose 11 sen to RM7.40.

Of the actives, MMAG increased 2.5 sen to 15 sen, Minetech added 3.0 sen to 17.5 sen, Fitters Diversified was down by half-a-sen to 5.0 sen, UEM Sunrise surged 15.5 sen to 99 sen, and Top Glove bagged 6.5 sen to 97.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM ACE Index climbed 12.95 points to 5,367.50, the FBM Emas Index put on 81.94 points to 10,902.93 and the FBMT 100 Index gained 74.91 points to 10,556.01.

The FBM 70 Index expanded 137.52 points to 14,771.18 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 103.63 points to 11,081.90.

Sector-wise, the Property Index increased 33.57 points to 897.91, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 2.08 points to 176.44, and the Energy Index ticked up 1.47 points to 820.84, while the Financial Services Index improved 23.81 points to 16,310.54, and the Plantation Index garnered 44.51 points to 7,012.64.

The Main Market volume widened to 3.79 billion units valued at RM1.63 billion against 2.74 billion units worth RM1.63 billion on Tuesday.

Warrants turnover tumbled to 637.23 million units worth RM74.37 million from 809.30 million units valued at RM82.75 million previously.

The ACE Market volume dwindled to 1.18 billion shares valued at RM299.76 million versus 1.42 billion shares worth RM289.98 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 354.78 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (945.33 million); construction (325.70 million); technology (468.08 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (87.54 million); property (659.68 million); plantation (25.45 million); REITs (10.48 million), closed/fund (5,500); energy (235.23 million); healthcare (322.64 million); telecommunications and media (42.02 million); transportation and logistics (110.00 million); and utilities (204.05 million). — Bernama