Bursa Malaysia closes higher after early decline
The benchmark added 0.24 per cent, but declining counters outnumbered advancing stocks 774 to 323.
Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ended November 2 at 1,619.51, a gain of 3.91 points, or 0.24 per cent. Buying in selected telecommunications and commodity-related heavyweights helped reverse early losses, while technology shares remained under pressure.
The index began trading at 1,613.21, below its previous closing level of 1,615.60. Its intraday low was 1,607.15 and its high was 1,623.33.
Market breadth was negative, with 774 stocks falling, 323 rising and 501 finishing unchanged. Trading activity eased to 2.65 billion units with a value of RM2.10 billion, against 3.15 billion units and RM2.68 billion in the preceding session.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng attributed the market’s resilience to selective blue-chip buying. He told Bernama that uncertainty about US interest rates and foreign fund flows could slow the recovery, with investors also watching the US mid-term elections and Bank Negara Malaysia’s November 5 monetary policy decision.
Public Bank finished at RM4.79 after adding four sen, and CIMB rose one sen to RM6.92. Maybank closed four sen lower at RM9.98. Among technology stocks, Vitrox ended at RM10.48 after losing 42 sen, while Mi Technovation shed 23 sen to RM6.30.
