KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 3): The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) snapped eight days of losses to end higher on Monday (Oct 3) on mild bargain-hunting activities, an analyst said.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 2.99 points to end at 1,397.62 from last Friday's close of 1,394.63.

The benchmark index opened 0.93 of a point easier at 1,393.7 and moved between 1,384.82 and 1,401.82 throughout the day.     

Market breadth, however, remained negative with losers leading gainers 530 to 285, while 383 counters remained unchanged, 1,155 untraded, and 31 others suspended.

Total turnover decreased to 1.79 billion units worth RM1.45 billion from 2.08 billion units worth RM1.91 billion last Friday.

"Still, gains are kept in check amid ongoing concerns over the rising inflationary pressure and tightening of monetary policy," Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong told Bernama.

Moving forward, investors would be looking out for fresh catalysts from Budget 2023, which is scheduled to be announced on Friday, he said.

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said regional key indices ended mostly negative following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday.

"Investors remain wary over rising interest rates, and slowing economic growth across the globe dented appetite for risk-driven assets.

"As for the local bourse, we reckon the short-term market sentiment will remain jittery amid the uncertain regional performance although bargain hunting may continue as the FBM KLCI remains in an oversold position," he told Bernama.

Thong anticipated that the FBM KLCI would trend sideways for the week with an uptrend bias in the range of 1,390 to 1,410.

From the technical point of view, he said the local bourse would see resistance at 1,410 and support at 1,380.

Among the heavyweight stocks, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) gained two sen to RM8.60, and Public Bank Bhd, too, rose two sen to RM4.25. Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was flat at RM8.39, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gave up one sen to RM5.12, and IHH Healthcare Bhd, too, eased one sen to RM5.89.

Of the actives, TWL Holdings Bhd added half-a-sen to five sen, and Citaglobal Bhd, too, gained half-a-sen to 24 sen, Hextar Industries Bhd edged up 4.5 sen to 47 sen, Top Glove Corp Bhd trimmed three sen to 59.5 sen, and PT Resources Holdings Bhd eased half-a-sen to 45.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 9.46 points to 9,967.4, the FBM 70 dropped 113.02 points to 12,088.79, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 5.74 points to 9,722.96, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 12.93 points to 9,995.1, and the FBM ACE gave up 5.76 points to 4,652.11.  

Sector-wise, the Energy Index was 4.07 points firmer at 674.25, the Financial Services Index improved 20.76 points to 15,943.21, and the Plantation Index ticked up 35.23 points to 6,508.99, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 1.21 points to 168.66.

The Main Market volume slid to 1.11 billion shares worth RM1.21 billion against Friday's 1.19 billion shares worth RM1.65 billion.

Warrant turnover reduced to 214.84 million units valued at RM42.82 million from 258.61 million units valued at RM50.33 million previously.  

The ACE Market volume shrank to 461.78 million shares worth RM194.78 million from 626.22 million shares worth RM209.75 million last Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 180.61 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (289.01 million), construction (36.15 million), technology (95.46 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (72.64 million), property (136.82 million), plantation (11.87 million), REITs (4.6 million), closed/fund (2,500), energy (116.34 million), healthcare (100.36 million), telecommunications and media (27.47 million), transportation and logistics (27.05 million), and utilities (13.4 million).