KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — Bursa Malaysia snapped a three-day losing streak to end higher today as bargain hunting emerged in selected heavyweights, led by Hong Leong Bank, Petronas Chemicals, and Sime Darby Plantation.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) expanded 0.99 per cent, or 15.46 points, to 1,562.33 from 1,546.87 at yesterday’s close.

The barometer index, which opened 3.45 points better at 1,550.32, moved between 1,543.91 and 1,568.00 throughout the session today.

Overall market breadth was positive with gainers beating decliners 799 to 272, while 344 counters were unchanged, 858 untraded, and 11 others suspended.

Total turnover shrank to 3.5 billion units worth RM3.51 billion against 3.96 billion units worth RM3.77 billion at yesterday’s close.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the reopening of Malaysia’s borders on April 1, 2022 lifted market sentiment.

However, he said key regional markets trended mixed due to cautious sentiment after broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, amid the continued spike in crude oil prices.

“Investors are cautious of further inflationary pressures as China’s February consumer price index data came in at 0.6 per cent, much higher than the market estimates and the prior figure of 0.3 per cent,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Japan has reported quarterly gross domestic product growth of 1.1 per cent, which came in lower than the market expectation of 1.4 per cent.

“Back home, we expect market sentiment to remain cautious due to the increasing market volatility and external uncertainties,” he said.

He anticipated the FBM KLCI to hover within the 1,550-1,570 range for the remaining of the week with immediate support at 1,550 and resistance at 1,570.

Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Hong Leong Bank added 30 sen to RM19.90, Petronas Chemicals gained 27 sen to RM9.97, Sime Darby Plantation rose 25 sen to RM5.30, Maybank crept up one sen to RM8.81 and Public Bank expanded 10 sen to RM4.40.

As for the actives, SMTrack lost two sen to 8.5 sen, DNex firmed 11.5 sen to RM1.05, Dataprep bagged 10 sen to 36.5 sen, Vinvest Capital inched up one sen to 25.5 sen and Hibiscus Petroleum recovered three sen to RM1.34.

On the index board, the FBM ACE added 169.45 points to 5,194.39, FBM 70 soared 353.9 points to 12,819.20, FBM Emas Index jumped 164.85 points to 11,043.17, FBMT 100 Index expanded 146.54 points to 10,740.34, and FBM Emas Shariah Index widened 168.98 points to 11,723.74.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved 237.25 points to 16,007.62, the Industrial Products and Services Index climbed 4.74 points to 207.93, and the Plantation Index appreciated 178.65 points at 8,428.82.

The Main Market volume shrank to 2.34 billion shares worth RM3.26 billion from 2.69 billion shares worth RM3.53 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover expanded to 443.64 million units worth RM64.24 million compared with 415.13 million units worth RM54.08 million previously.

The ACE Market volume reduced to 716.38 million shares valued at RM180.38 million versus 853.14 million shares valued at RM181.68 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 315.29 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (578.71 million), construction (79.72 million), technology (474.72 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (89.9 million), property (137.80 million), plantation (230.60 million), REITs (11.13 million), closed/fund (15,000), energy (248.42 million), healthcare (101.48 million), telecommunications and media (29.85 million), transportation and logistics (28.50 million), and utilities (20.42 million). — Bernama