Bursa Malaysia recoups earlier losses to end flattish

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged up 0.27 of-a-point to 1,633.81 from Wednesday's close of 1,633.54.

The benchmark index opened 0.16 of-a-point higher at 1,633.70 and moved between 1,627.93 and 1,634.24 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 727 to 499, with 503 counters unchanged, 719 untraded, and 16 others suspended.

Turnover increased to 5.49 billion units worth RM4.22 billion from Wednesday's 5.28 billion units worth RM3.87 billion.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the overall sentiment towards the Malaysian market remained robust.

"Furthermore, while major Asian indices closed mixed today, the region is demonstrating resilience despite geopolitical concerns following former President Donald Trump's Taiwan comments and potential policy changes from US President Joe Biden," he added.

Weak sentiment in the local bourse was also influenced by the mixed performance of other Asian markets as investors monitored global developments.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ticked up 0.22 per cent to 17,778.41, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index surged 1.34 per cent to 7,321.07, Singapore's Straits Times Index declined 0.53 per cent to 3,471.16, and Japan's Nikkei 225 sank 2.36 per cent to 40,126.35.

Bursa Malaysia's heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM10.10, Public Bank advanced eight sen to RM4.25, CIMB and Petronas Chemicals gained one sen to RM7.15 and RM6.04, respectively, YTL Corp was unchanged at RM3.60, TNB declined six sen to RM14.44, IHH Healthcare eased one sen to RM6.34, and Press Metal dipped 49 sen to RM5.50.

Among the active counters, Hubline and Ekovest perked up two sen to 10 sen and 57.5 sen, respectively, JAKS put on 1.5 sen to 19 sen, Nova MSC increased three sen to 22.5 sen, MYEG fell five sen to RM1, SNS Network slid one sen to 91 sen, and Bumi Armada eased half-a-sen to 56.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 1.99 points to 12,676.42, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 1.02 points to 12,246.68, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 33.63 points to 13,053.29, the FBM 70 Index went down 2.09 points to 18,976.70, and the FBM ACE Index trimmed 3.12 points to 5,999.10.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index fell 26.69 points to 7,101.40, the Financial Services Index rose 65.06 points to 18,000.23, the Energy Index shed 0.12 of-a-point to 972.26, and the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 3.96 points to 196.83.

The Main Market volume increased to 3.20 billion units valued at RM3.73 billion from Wednesday's 3.07 billion units valued at RM3.42 billion.

Warrants turnover improved to 1.53 billion units worth RM199.72 million versus 1.27 billion units worth RM145.98 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume tumbled to 760.02 million shares valued at RM288.77 million from 940.04 million shares valued at RM312.69 million.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 480.24 million shares traded on the Main Market; industrial products and services (539.52 million); construction (456.52 million); technology (438.20 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (96.06 million); property (351.31 million); plantation (37.80 million); REITs (19.15 million); closed/fund (66,600); energy (197.0 million); healthcare (93.79 million); telecommunications and media (40.80 million); transportation and logistics (363.89 million); utilities (80.05 million); and business trusts (888,000).

-- BERNAMA