KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Continuous buying support in selected financial services counters led by Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Hong Leong Bank Bhd lifted Bursa Malaysia to end at its intra-day high for the second day running, amid mixed performance on regional bourses, dealers said.

The two counters contributed a combined 6.1 points to the gains in the barometer index, the dealers said.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 14.12 points or 0.91% to 1,564.29 from 1,550.17 at Monday’s close.

The index opened 1.16 points lower at 1,549.01 and hit a low of 1,546.19 in the early morning session.

The overall market breadth, however, was negative with decliners beating advancers 639 to 356, while 398 counters were unchanged, 874 untraded, and 15 others suspended.

Total turnover shrank to 4.15 billion units worth RM2.84 billion versus 6.65 billion units valued at RM2.38 billion on Monday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI continued to trend higher due to strong buying interest in banking stocks.

“Regionally, key indices ended mixed as investors are wary of rising Covid-19 cases in China and geopolitical tension as North Korea’s second missile test in nearly a week pushes Japan and South Korea to raise their agitation in front of the United Nations (UN),” he told Bernama on Tuesday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.9% to 28,222.48, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.03% to 23,739.06, Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.62% to 3,247.07, and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.02% to 2,927.38.

On the home front, Thong said buying activities might continue but profit-taking could also set in.

“On the other hand, we advise investors to stay alert on the increasing market volatility and external uncertainties.

“As such, we expect the FBM KLCI to see range-bound trading and hover within the 1,545-1,565 range for the remaining of the week. Technically, the immediate support is unchanged at 1,530 while resistance is at 1,570,” he added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank climbed 16 sen to RM8.50, Hong Leong Bank jumped 70 sen to RM19.90, Public Bank Bhd gained five sen to RM4.23, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was flat at RM8.90, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd slipped five sen to RM5.62 and IHH Healthcare Bhd trimmed three sen to RM6.65.

Of the actives, AHB Holdings Bhd improved 3.5 sen to 29 sen, Dagang NeXchange Bhd shed one sen to 87.5 sen, MQ Technology Bhd eased half-a-sen to 11.5 sen, while AT Systematization Bhd and SMTrack Bhd were flat at three sen and 30 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 56.88 points firmer at 11,287.57, the FBMT 100 Index improved 63.52 points to 10,986.77, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 9.73 points to 12,036.37, while the FBM ACE dipped 137.22 points to 6,616.67, and the FBM 70 lost 73.35 points to 14,149.01.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index chalked up 310.8 points to 16,177.13, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.57 of-a-point to 203.51, while the Plantation Index climbed 37.73 points to 6,768.62.

The Main Market volume dwindled to 2.52 billion shares worth RM2.5 billion compared with 3.47 billion shares worth RM1.98 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover improved to 283.05 million units worth RM36.91 million from 248.02 million units worth RM33.34 million on Monday.

The ACE Market volume slid to 1.35 billion shares worth RM303.71 million versus 2.95 billion shares valued at RM360.39 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 479.92 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (576.58 million), construction (272.36 million), technology (447.23 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (136.98 million), property (194.45 million), plantation (12.45 million), REITs (6.63 million), closed/fund (2,600), energy (128.44 million), healthcare (69.16 million), telecommunications and media (26.11 million), transportation and logistics (144.35 million), and utilities (2.32 million).