KUALA LUMPUR (May 25): The FBM KLCI recovered from a four-day slide today, supported by bargain hunting activities after the sell-off. The benchmark index closed 21.74 points or 1.22% higher at 1,797.40.

Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers at 506 versus 397. Volume stood at a total of 2.2 billion shares valued at RM2.95 billion.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong said the rebound on the back of bargain hunting activities could be short-lived.

“There might still be some weakness in the local stock market over the near-term period,” Leong said when contacted.  

“Foreign funds are still offloading Malaysian equities given the uncertainty of the new government policies, but the weakness in the ringgit too has played a role,” he said.

The local currency was trading at 3.9808 against the greenback at the time of writing.

Finance minister Lim Guan Eng earlier today said the government will honour all payments on the debt raised by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), although the new government is unhappy about money missing from the State fund.

Lim hoped this will reassure the financial markets that the “government knows what it is doing and it is market friendly and follows international financial norms.”

Gaming counter Genting Malaysia Bhd and banking stocks Public Bank Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd anchored the gain in the key index today.

E-government service provider My EG Services Bhd closed 3.77% lower as the most active counter with a total of 106.39 million shares traded.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets were mixed in cautious mode today, with Japan’s Nikkei up a marginal 0.06%, while South Korea’s Kospi and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index down 0.21% and 0.56% respectively.

Reuters reported that regional market sentiment recovered slightly after North Korea’s conciliatory stance over US President Donald Trump’s announcement to call off a key summit with the republic.