KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 3): Late buying in selected telecommunications and media as well as financial service counters has pushed Bursa Malaysia to end at its intra-day high today amid mixed sentiments on the regional markets, dealers said.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up seven points at 1,589.19 from yesterday’s close of 1,582.19.

The index opened 2.98 points better at 1,585.17 and hovered to the lowest of 1,579.94 before ending the trading session at the highest level for the day.

Market breadth was positive with gainers thumping decliners 631 to 399, while 448 counters were unchanged, 750 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Turnover was higher at 4.25 billion units worth RM2.88 billion compared with 4.06 billion units worth RM2.77 billion yesterday.

A dealer said that regionally, most Asian bourses were mixed as investors turned cautious after weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data, which raises concerns about China’s slowing economic growth and regulatory changes.

Meanwhile, ActivTrades trader Anderson Alves said data continues to show that China's economy is slowing down, with the latest Chinese Caixin services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) recording its first headline contraction for the survey since April 20, at 46.7 versus expectations of 52.6.

“The new wave of Covid-19 infections sweeping the Asian region, along with China's slowdown, could put some pressure on local assets. Australia's New South Wales reported 1,431 new cases, and the state premier expects the next two weeks to show a worsening in infections,” he said in a research note today.

Meanwhile, Alves said the technology sector in the region could feel some pain as local reports said China was set to strengthen its review of game content.

“On the macro front, the big reading for the season ahead will be the US Nonfarm Payroll report. The consensus is for the pace of hiring to cool in August, although the short-term trend rates are likely to improve. Following the past few days of mixed data, traders seem to be positioned to price in a more 'dovish' print.

“However, should the data surprise on the upside, it may offer hints that the US labour market is making progress towards the US Federal Reserve's 'substantial' threshold where Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members could feel comfortable to adopt a stronger hawkish position ahead of the September meeting,” he added.

Maxis Bhd and Public Bank Bhd were the top two gainers for the benchmark index, contributing to a total of 4.24 points, rising 15 sen and six sen each to RM4.64 and RM4.13 respectively.

Among other heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd gained nine sen to RM8.36, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose five sen to RM4.96, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd slipped five sen to RM8.24, Tenaga Nasional Bhd declined two sen to RM10.36 and IHH Healthcare Bhd fell three sen to RM6.33.

Among the actives, KNM Group Bhd improved one sen to 28.5 sen, CTOS Digital Bhd added 15 sen to RM1.90, Sapura Energy Bhd earned half-a-sen to 12.5 sen while Borneo Oil Bhd was flat at three sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 61.56 points to 11,594.98, the FBMT 100 Index went up 55.01 points to 11,292.99 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 37.39 points to 12,694.75.

The FBM 70 surged 94.17 points to 15,100.25 while the FBM ACE gained 34.19 points to 7,251.78.   

Sector wise, the Plantation Index perked up 11.14 points to 6,699.69 while the Financial Services Index chalked up 136.9 points to 15,536.77 and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.39 points to 199.92.

Main Market volume increased to 3.16 billion shares worth RM2.59 billion from yesterday’s 2.62 billion shares worth RM2.37 billion. 

Warrants turnover fell to 280.18 million units valued at RM39.84 million compared to 370.34 million units valued at RM49.07 million.

Volume on the ACE Market narrowed 811.25 million shares worth RM246.32 million from 1.06 billion shares worth RM348.83 million previously.     

Consumer products and services accounted for 491.94 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.12 billion), construction (158.11 million), technology (316.76 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (61.34 million), property (282.49 million), plantation (47.95 million), REITs (4.71 million), closed/fund (16,500), energy (437.35 million), healthcare (65.54 million), telecommunications and media (39.59 million), transportation and logistics (94.55 million) and utilities (31.63 million).