Kuala Lumpur, February 3 – Bursa Malaysia ended marginally higher on Friday with the benchmark FBM KLCI up 0.67 point or +0.04% at 1,490.47. The index swinged from positive territory (at opening) to negative territory (at noon break) and managed to settle at 1490-point plateau.
The corporate results season has started, and it is expected that most of the big caps would show decent earnings growth for 2022. Hence, the main index is traded in range bound in near term.
Meanwhile, the regional bourses ended mixed on Friday, as the battles of the bears and bulls capped the gains on the Asian stocks. Whilst the bull factor attributed to positive cues from global markets overnight, with market participants remain cautiously optimistic that the Fed is nearing the end of its rate hiking cycle. The bear factor is disappointing earnings from US tech giants such as Apple, Amazon and Alphabet.
The Australian bourse led the gains today with S&P/ASX 200 advanced 46.5 points or 0.62%, to 7558.1, which marked its fifth straight winning week after four straight losing ones in December. The ASX 200 was lifted by healthcare, real estate and tech stocks. The US Federal Reserve’s mild interest rate rise and Jerome Powell’s comments on inflation easing has spurred a shift of market mood and created a flurry of positive activity. However, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is expected to press its the foot on the rate-rise pedal again.
** The FTSE BM KLCI opened at 1,490.56. The index fluctuated between 1,485.25- 1,493.34.
** 443 counters are gainers, 388 counters are unchanged, while 510 counters are decliners.
** Total volume of 4.362billion shares changed hands; while Turnover of RM 2.406 billion
** The Top 5 Gainers: MPI (34.72, +1.08); HEIM (29.44, +0.44); KLK (22.02, +0.26); KESM (7.74, +0.24); FCW (1.25, +0.20)
** The Top 5 Losers: F&N (25.00, -0.40); HSI-CLS (2.47, -0.20); BAT (12.88, -0.20); HLCAP (6.43, -0.15); HSI-CLC (0.835, -0.145)
** The Top 5 Active: BORNOIL (0.02, 0.00); HONGSENG (0.19, -0.025); ZENTECH (0.065, -0.005); SAPNRG (0.045, -0.005); TAWIN (0.07, 0.00)
Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) climbed 16.36 points or +0.49% to 3,380.04; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HSI) tumbled 297.89 points or -1.36% at 21,660.47; Japan’s Nikkei 225 index added 107.41 points or +0.39% at 27,509.46; Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index surrendered 22.26 points or -0.68% at 3,263.41; Korea’s Kospi Index collected 11.52 points or +0.47% at 2,480.40; Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 46.5 points or +0.62% at 7,558.10.
