KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 12): Bursa Malaysia ended choppy trading with modest gains on Tuesday, driven by late buying in selected plantation and banking heavyweights although cautious trading was seen throughout the day amid the reshuffling of the Cabinet ministers earlier in the morning.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.73 of a point to 1,447.12 from Monday's closing of 1,446.39.

The key index opened 0.27 of a point easier at 1,446.12 and moved between 1,444.26 and 1,447.72 throughout the day.

Market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing advancers by 483 to 388, while 457 counters were unchanged, 1,003 untraded, and 23 others suspended.

Turnover narrowed to 3.28 billion units worth RM2.38 billion from 3.82 billion units worth RM2.47 billion the previous day.

Apex Securities Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong said the KLCI ended higher but on a flattish note at less than one point as caution prevails following the reshuffling of Cabinet ministers.

“The performance took cue from the better performance recorded on Wall Street overnight and was in line with the mostly positive performance across regional markets,” he said.

Leong also said that looking ahead, Bursa Malaysia is expected to see sideways consolidation on the uncertainty surrounding the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate decision to be announced on Wednesday.

The Fed has kicked off its last monetary policy meeting of the year on Tuesday. The meeting held on Dec 12-13 would determine the the central bank's funds rate decision.

“Meanwhile, investors will also be keeping a close tab on the US producer price index data to be released tomorrow [Wednesday]. Also, the absence of fresh catalysts on the domestic front are limiting further upsides at this point of time,” he added.

Leong noted that from the technical perspective, the KLCI has formed a hammer candle after recovering all its intraday losses and may likely trend mildly higher.

“Immediate resistance are located at 1,465 and 1,488, while support is spotted at 1,430,” he added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd rose two sen each to RM9.07 and RM9.93, respectively, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gained a sen to RM5.79, Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM4.25, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd dipped eight sen to RM7.09.

Of the actives, Sarawak Cable Bhd added 15 sen to 21 sen, Asdion Bhd was 1.5 sen better at nine sen, Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd shed 3.5 sen to 77 sen, and Handal Energy Bhd was flat at 13 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 2.78 points to 10,682.08, the FBMT 100 Index added 1.89 points to 10,349.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved by 1.69 points to 10,774.81, the FBM ACE Index climbed 21.87 points to 5,131.03, while the FBM 70 Index erased 12.05 points to 14,078.18.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded 11.92 points to 16,376.27 and the Energy Index perked up 2.58 points to 795.47.

The Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.59 of a point to 170.1 and the Plantation Index was 4.22 points lower at 6,973.58.

The Main Market volume declined to 1.94 billion units valued at RM2.08 billion against 2.12 billion units valued at RM2.14 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover tumbled to 752.97 million units worth RM93.84 million from 1.16 billion units worth RM127.72 million previously.

The ACE Market volume improved to 587.87 million shares valued at RM204.0 million versus 540.09 million shares valued at RM203.99 million on Monday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 244.82 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (508.67 million); construction (125.41 million); technology (198.19 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (78.07 million); property (220.6 million); plantation (29.8 million); REITs (14.19 million), closed/fund (4,300); energy (201.82 million); healthcare (101.23 million); telecommunications and media (28.13 million); transportation and logistics (39.24 million); and utilities (146.24 million).