Malaysian Stock Market Rebounds To Close Higher

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) rebounded to close higher Wednesday on bargain-hunting in most blue-chips, backed by the higher finish on overnight Wall Street, dealers said. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up 24.32 points, or 1.33 per cent, to 1,836.68 from Tuesday's close of 1,812.45. The index moved between 1,825.80 and 1,841.08 throughout the day session after opening 14.66 points firmer at 1,827.11. Market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing losers by 625 to 460, with 361 counters unchanged, 399 untraded and 19 others suspended. Turnover, however, declined to 3.31 billion shares worth RM3.50 billion from Tuesday’s 5.20 billion shares worth RM5.32 billion. Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd Head of Research, Pong Teng Siew, said the bourse’s gains, however, were limited as sentiment towards the recent sell-offs in the US, has not fully recovered in the Asian markets. Japan's Nikkei 225 was marginally higher at 0.16 per cent. The Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index moved 0.89 per cent lower and Singapore's Straits Times Index was down 0.66 per cent. "The markets overall are performing better today but some are still trying to find catalysts to give them a boost but it will take some time. "For Bursa Malaysia, it is hard to say from day to day, but moving at above 20 points, we think it will gradually be stable, depending on how the US markets will hold tonight," Pong told Bernama. Of the heavyweights, Maybank added six sen to RM10.06, Tenaga (+26 sen to RM15.84), Public Bank (+46 sen to RM21.94) and CIMB (+21 sen to RM7.08). Petronas Chemicals fell one sen to RM7.99. The top gainers were Nestle, which rose 70 sen to RM115.00, Hartalega (+66 sen to RM11.50) and Petronas Gas (+50 sen to RM17.62). Among the active counters, Sumatec was flat at 7.5 sen while Sapura Energy eased 1.5 sen to 70.5 sen and Hibiscus Petroleum fell two sen to 83 sen. The FBM Emas Index perked 156.79 points to 13,083.80, FBMT 100 Index was up 164.57 points to 12,806.61 and the FBM 70 rose 191.17 points to 16,036.57. The FBM Emas Shariah Index soared 136.09 points to 13,350.21 and the FBM Ace increased 28.21 points to 6,169.62. Sector-wise, the Finance Index jumped 244.28 points to 17,604.55, Industrial Index was 18.13 points better at 3,242.17 and the Plantation Index advanced 74.15 points to 7,968.27. -- BERNAMA