Bursa ends higher on bargain hunting

Bursa Malaysia's key index, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, closed higher on Wednesday after experiencing recent declines, as oversold conditions led to bargain hunting among investors. The index opened at 1,646.49 and finished at 1,651.17, marking a 0.43% increase. The trading session saw the index fluctuate between 1,645.03 and 1,657.41.

Although the market breadth was negative, with more stocks declining than gaining (703 to 413), the overall turnover improved to 3.63 billion units, valued at RM3.62 billion, up from 3.31 billion units, worth RM2.95 billion the previous day. Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, expressed cautious optimism, stating that while the local market's recovery is tentative, the recent correction has brought select blue-chip valuations to more appealing levels.

This could encourage further bargain hunting. However, Thong emphasized that a sustained market recovery would likely depend on a more favorable external environment. Among the notable performers, Maybank remained unchanged at RM9.99, Public Bank fell slightly to RM4.70, CIMB added one sen to RM7.79, Tenaga Nasional rose 24 sen to RM12.96, and IHH Healthcare decreased by four sen to RM7.83.

Top gainers included Nestle, Allianz Malaysia, UWC, United Plantations, and Petronas Gas. Conversely, Hengyuan Refining, Malaysian Pacific Industries, Kuala Lumpur Kepong, Genting Plantations, and Eurospan were among the leading decliners. The index performance varied across sectors, with the industrial products and services index declining by 0.45 points, the energy index dropping 23.00 points, and the financial services index falling 44.35 points.