KUALA LUMPUR (April 14): Bursa Malaysia recovered slightly from its two-day losing streak this morning, after some bargain-hunting emerged in the local market.

At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 0.57 of-a-point to 1,598.28 from Tuesday’s close of 1,597.71.

The index opened 2.48 points higher at 1,600.19.

A dealer said the recent sell-off, which prompted the key index to move below its psychological level of 1,600 yesterday, has attracted investors to accumulate some position.

He said the latest external developments — stronger-than-expected United States inflation data and the halt in Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine rollout that sparked worries of a delayed broader economic recovery — had also weighed on sentiment globally.

On Tuesday, the US Labour Department announced that the Consumer Price Index increased 0.6% in March, after a 0.4% hike in the previous month. This came unexpectedly as consensus projected to see a 0.5% rise.

Back home, the overall market breadth turned positive with gainers leading losers 270 to 207, while 1,271 counters were unchanged, 431 untraded and 10 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 805.99 million shares worth RM290.21 million.

Of the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd and Top Glove Corp Bhd gained three sen each to RM8.35 and RM5.11 respectively, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd rose six sen to RM7.94, and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd added two sen to RM4.25.

Public Bank Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd eased two sen each to RM4.21 and RM10.18, respectively, and IHH Healthcare Bhd slipped one sen to RM5.38. 

Among the active counters, Minda Global Bhd earned 1.5 sen to 19 sen, Rex Industry Bhd and UCrest Bhd added one sen each to 24.5 sen and 28 sen, respectively, while TDM Bhd was flat at 27.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 14.28 points higher at 11,830.05, the FBM Emas Shariah bagged 24.37 points to 13,192.39, the FBMT 100 gained 9.71 points to 11,477.59, the FBM 70 increased 35.16 points to 15,812.33, and the FBM ACE rebounded by 62.3 points to 9,511.17.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.78 of-a-point to 194.54, the Plantation Index advanced 22.26 points to 6,966.28, but the Financial Services Index lost 3.34 points to 15,154.24.