KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 8): Bursa Malaysia ended mixed on Thursday on a lack of fresh leads amid a quiet market ahead of the Chinese New Year long weekend.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched down 0.75 of a point to end at 1,512.36 from Wednesday’s close of 1,513.11.

The barometer index opened 0.08 of a point higher at 1,513.19 and moved between 1,512.36 and 1,521.18 throughout the day.

Gainers trounced losers 574 to 361 on the broader market, while 454 counters were unchanged, 899 untraded and 10 others suspended.

Turnover increased to 3.25 billion units valued at RM2 billion from Wednesday's 3.04 billion units valued at RM2.08 billion.  

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said investors had shifted their attention to smaller cap stocks due to their attractive valuations and growing potential.

"Nonetheless, we believe buying in blue chips will return due to the improving sentiment across the region and undemanding valuations. Hence we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,510-1,520 towards the weekend,” he added.

Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd increased three sen each to RM6.23 and RM6.71, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd was flat at RM4.46, Maybank Bhd slid three sen to RM9.26, Public Bank Bhd eased two sen to RM4.37, Tenaga Nasional Bhd fell four sen to RM10.78, and IHH Healthcare Bhd gave up one sen to RM6.13.

As for the actives, Widad Group Bhd rose 1.5 sen to 12.5 sen, Reneuco Bhd gained two sen to seven sen, Pegasus Heights Bhd and Minetech Resources Bhd were flat at half a sen and 13 sen, EA Holdings Bhd edged down half a sen to half a sen, Ucrest Bhd went down a sen to 12 sen and YTP Power Bhd shed four sen to RM4.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 9.95 points higher at 11,233.93, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 5.28 points to 10,897.48, the FBM 70 Index improved 51.40 points to 15,169.23, the FBM Emas Shariah Index appreciated 25.72 points to 11,265.83, and the FBM ACE Index swelled 50.21 points to 4,771.81. 

Sector-wise, the Property Index improved 5.68 points to 905.1, the Plantation Index appreciated 30.63 points to 7,197.91 and the Energy Index added 7.74 points to 880.7.

The Financial Services Index depreciated 31.18 points to 16,916.89, and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.49 of a point to 172.23.  

The Main Market volume eased slightly to 1.85 billion units worth RM1.77 billion from 1.89 billion units worth RM1.85 billion on Wednesday.  

Warrants turnover fell to 676.53 million units worth RM102.92 million from 681.68 million units valued at RM107.78 million the previous day.  

The ACE Market volume declined to 695.62 million shares worth RM118.56 million from Wednesday’s 466.52 million shares worth RM124.55 million. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 257.02 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (388.03 million); construction (146.87 million); technology (124.84 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (70.21 million); property (532.63 million); plantation (15.88 million); REITs (18.73 million), closed/fund (12,000); energy (118.02 million); healthcare (46.41 million); telecommunications and media (26.85 million); transportation and logistics (22.58 million); and utilities (86.34 million).