KUALA LUMPUR (June 21): Bursa Malaysia ended at its intraday high on Tuesday (June 21) due to improved market sentiment across the region, as buying support emerged primarily in healthcare, technology, as well as energy stocks, a dealer said.

At 5pm, the barometer index rose 16.64 points or 1.15% to 1,457.88 from Monday's close of 1,441.24.

After opening 2.06 points higher at 1,443.3, the market bellwether hit a low of 1,443.26 in the morning session.

On the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 684 to 308, while 333 counters were unchanged, 950 untraded, and 19 others suspended.

Total turnover increased to 2.79 billion units worth RM1.86 billion from 2.62 billion units worth RM1.69 billion on Monday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices were higher as the upbeat performance of Wall Street futures lifted the overall market sentiments.

He said investors also took opportunity to bargain hunt for cheaper stocks following the recent selloffs.

“As for the local bourse, we are cautiously optimistic given the improvement in regional market sentiments, nonetheless, investors will stay cautious due to the increasing market volatility,” he told Bernama.

Thong expects the benchmark index to trend sideways with an uptrend bias within the range of 1,440-1,465 for the remainder of the week.

“On a technical point of view, we shall see immediate resistance at 1,490 and support at 1,435,” he added.

Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd was unchanged at RM8.65, IHH Healthcare Bhd added 16 sen to RM6.49, Hartalega Holdings Bhd was 12 sen better at RM2.94, Top Glove Corp Bhd gained 9.5 sen to RM1.08, Dialog Group Bhd expanded seven sen to RM2.10, and Inari Amertron Bhd perked up five sen to RM2.65.

Of the actives, Dagang NeXchange Bhd inched up 3.5 sen to 80 sen, SFP Tech Holdings Bhd climbed 2.5 sen to 69.5 sen, Widad Group Bhd was half-a-sen firmer at 36.5 sen, KNM Group Bhd eased half-a-sen to 13 sen, while Yong Tai Bhd was flat at nine sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index put on 132.61 points to 10,394.85, FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 162.51 points to 10,567.55, FBM 70 rose 188.56 points to 12,552.43, FBMT 100 Index expanded 124.31 points to 10,131.3, and the FBM ACE climbed 87.42 points to 4,824.98.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 114.19 points to 16,159.18, the Plantation Index inched up 0.47 of-a-point to 7,114.97 and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 2.88 points at 186.36.

Main Market volume widened to 1.69 billion shares worth RM1.56 billion from 1.43 billion shares worth RM1.28 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover swelled to 543.84 million units valued at RM102.68 million against 389.81 million units valued at RM88.63 million on Monday.

ACE Market volume shrank to 555.05 million shares worth RM200.21 million from 801.26 million shares worth RM320.01 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 185.97 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (496.11 million), construction (34.83 million), technology (235.62 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (59.78 million), property (220.45 million), plantation (32.7 million), REITs (4.96 million), closed/fund (4,400), energy (194.48 million), healthcare (155.5 million), telecommunications and media (29.87 million), transportation and logistics (31.26 million), and utilities (14.16 million).