KUALA LUMPUR (March 11): Bursa Malaysia closed higher for the third straight trading day on Monday, supported by continuous buying in most heavyweights, amid the mixed tone on the regional markets, a dealer said.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.85 points to 1,544.71 from last Friday's (March 8) close of 1,539.86.

The benchmark index, which opened 2.15 points higher at 1,542.01, moved within a narrow range between 1,540.77 and 1,547.48 throughout the day.

On the broader market, gainers beat decliners 518 to 460, while 468 counters were unchanged, 813 untraded, and 12 others suspended.

Turnover rose to 3.64 billion units worth RM2.71 billion from 3.03 billion units worth RM2.73 billion last Friday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the KLCI finished higher with strong buying in gaming, telecommunications and commodity-related stocks while the key regional indices trended mostly lower following a negative cue from Wall Street last Friday.

“Investors are wary of the key US inflation data which will impact the outlook of the interest rate. Meanwhile, China and Hong Kong stocks closed higher on news that China is moving away from deflation, marking a crucial shift in the economic scenario,” he said.

According to Thong, investors are now actively assessing growth opportunities in the world's second-largest economy.

“Despite positive signals in the local market sentiment, we maintain a cautious stance domestically on ongoing elevated market volatility in the near term.

“As such, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend sideways with an upside bias within the 1,530-1,550 range for the week, with immediate resistance at 1,560 and support at 1,520,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank Bhd added seven sen to RM9.82, Public Bank Bhd advanced a sen to RM4.30, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose two sen to RM6.67, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd climbed nine sen to RM6.90, while Tenaga Nasional Bhd slipped four sen to RM11.24.

As for the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd added a sen to two sen, TWL Holdings Bhd and Pegasus Heights Bhd were flat at 3.5 sen and half a sen, respectively, while Minetech Resources Bhd shed a sen to 13.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 30.24 points firmer at 11,453.38, the FBMT 100 Index rose 32.46 points to 11,120.51, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 26.69 points to 11,450.67, the FBM 70 Index garnered 34.91 points to 15,438.29, and the FBM ACE Index perked 9.59 points to 4,698.64. 

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 35.91 points to 17,404.65, the Plantation Index increased 13.39 points to 7,302.94, the Energy Index slipped 8.96 points to 894.61, while the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 1.25 points to 175.41. 

The Main Market volume expanded to 2.35 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion from 1.8 billion units valued at RM2.31 billion last Friday.

Warrants turnover declined to 728.69 million units worth RM100.23 million from 798.79 million units worth RM115.89 million previously.  

The ACE Market volume swelled to 541.56 million shares worth RM164.55 million from 429.91 million shares worth RM128.38 million on Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 279.7 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (420.63 million); construction (110.64 million); technology (530.88 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (193.27 million); property (431.34 million); plantation (37.15 million); REITs (15.36 million), closed/fund (178,700); energy (157.86 million); healthcare (43.23 million); telecommunications and media (26.54 million); transportation and logistics (27.67 million); and utilities (76.16 million).