KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI see-sawed between gains and losses before closing higher on Tuesday amid mixed trading across regional markets.
The benchmark index closed up 1.65 points, or 0.11% to 1,497.68 after moving between its intraday high of 1,501.03 and low of 1,495.0.
Winners and decliners closely balanced, with 373 gainers against 395 losers and 466 ended flat. Market turnover stood at 2.52 billion shares valued at RM1.26bil.
In terms of fund flows, foreign funds and retailers were net buyers on Monday acquiring equities worth RM14mil and RM39mil respectively.
Local institutions were net sellers at RM53mil.
Amlex was the top gainer on Bursa Malaysia, rising 24 sen or 52.17% to RM52.17, followed by F&N which added 22 sen to RM22.78 and PETRONAS Gas which gained 18 sen to RM17.30.
Among the losers, Nestle shed RM2.10 to RM134.70, Malaysian Pacific Industries
lost 50 sen to RM31.90 and Rapid eased 30 sen to RM12.80.
OANDA senior market analyst, UK & EMEA, Craig Erlam said equity markets are lacking any real direction in Asia and that appears to be carrying into the European session as well.
“Europe is seeing minor losses on the open, offsetting some of the small gains in choppy trade at the start of the week. This follows a similarly choppy session in the US on Monday as the Dow flirted with exiting correction territory and the Nasdaq bear market territory.
“We may have reached a point in which investors need to decide whether they truly buy into the recovery/no recession narrative or not. That is what appears to have fueled the recovery we’ve seen in equity markets despite the fact that inflation hasn’t even started falling, central banks are still hiking aggressively and recession is on the horizon for many,” he said.
Asian bourses closed mixed today, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 losing 0.88%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.42%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.21%, China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.32% and Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.36%.