KUALA LUMPUR: Banking stocks should be in the limelight today following last week’s selldown, said Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd.
The brokerage firm anticipates the financial sector to see a rebound, while the renewable energy (RE) sector could continue to generate interest in line with the government’s initiative to expand RE use in Malaysia.
In a note today, Malacca Securities said it expects the local bourse to track the uptrend in regional markets, supported by bargain-hunting activities today.
“Investors may monitor Japan’s and Eurozone’s gross domestic product (GDP), as well as China’s inflation rate to gauge the aggressiveness of global interest rate hikes,” it said.
“Besides, property-related counters may shine amidst optimism over economic recovery,” it added.
Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open slightly higher today despite Wall Street’s weaker performance overnight as investors digested weaker-than-expected economic data ahead of next week’s US Federal Reserve meeting.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 1.29 points to 1,382.55 from 1,381.26 at Friday’s close.
The key index opened 0.84 of-a-point higher at 1,382.10.
The broader market was positive with advancers surpassing decliners 209 to 145, while 289 counters were unchanged, 1,600 untraded and 14 others suspended.
Turnover was 394.18 million units worth RM123.84 million.
Bursa Malaysia Bhd and its subsidiaries were closed on June 5, 2023, in conjunction with the birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals increased by 1 sen to RM8.59 and RM6.56, respectively, and Public Bank added 2 sen to RM3.80, while Tenaga Nasional slid 8 sen to RM9.34 and CelcomDigi decreased 2 sen to RM4.46.
Among the actives, Classita and Bintai Kinden edged up 1.5 sen to 13.5 sen and 8 sen, respectively, and Techna-X was 1 sen higher at 2.5 sen, while Bumi Armada lost 13 sen to 50.5 sen and Dagang NeXchange eased 1.5 sen to 50.0 sen.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index declined 0.69 of-a-point to 9,907.76, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 2.25 points to 10,588.61, the FBM 70 Index shed 42.13 points to 13,562.51, while the FBM ACE Index garnered 2.11 points to 5,072.37, and the FBM Emas Index gained 0.44 points to 10,207.61.
Sector-wise, the financial services index advanced 24.60 points to 15,118.55, the industrial products and services index improved by 0.18 of-a-point to 159.96 and the plantation index ticked up 28.16 points to 6,652.72, while the energy index shrank 16.15 points to 795.13.