KUALA LUMPUR (March 17): The FBM KLCI erased losses to close marginally higher today on last-minute buying interest ahead of the government’s announcement of a new stimulus package.

The benchmark index closed 1.01 points or 0.06% higher at 1,624.97 after having stayed in negative territory for the most part of the trading session. 

A remisier, Jeffry Azizi Jaafar, said the drop in the index earlier was due to a correction in prices following the rally in the past three weeks.

“The market saw financial, plantation and technology [stocks] fall due to a consolidation after recent strong gains on market recovery optimism, driven by the ongoing vaccination programme and a decline in daily [new] Covid-19 infections,” he told The Edge.

The market also turned cautious as investors awaited the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) two-day policy meeting, he added.

After the market closed, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced a RM20 billion economic stimulus programme, which included a direct fiscal injection of RM11 billion.

The package, known as Pemerkasa, contained new incentives and initiatives to face the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bursa Malaysia saw 12.67 billion shares worth RM4.73 billion changing hands. There were 625 gainers, 505 losers and 448 unchanged counters.

Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd was the top gainer, adding RM1.40 to RM137.10. This was followed by British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, G3 Global Bhd and TIME dotCom Bhd.

Toyo Ventures Holdings Bhd topped the list of losers, closing down 32 sen or 10.16% at RM2.83. Other decliners included Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Cymao Holdings Bhd, Rapid Synergy Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd and Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd.

Pegasus Heights Bhd was the top active counter, with 1.38 billion shares traded. The counter closed unchanged at three sen.

Other active stocks included Scomi Group Bhd, Borneo Oil Bhd, Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd, Fintec Global Bhd and Lambo Group Bhd.

Bloomberg reported that Asian stocks weakened today as investors assessed the strength of the economic recovery against the risk of a shift in the Fed’s dovish policy projections. Benchmark Treasury yields hovered near their highest levels in over a year.

Japan's Nikkei 225 inched down 0.02%, while South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.64%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed marginally higher by 0.02%, while the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index was down 0.03%.