KUALA LUMPUR (May 14): The FBM KLCI closed 0.12 point or 0.01% higher at 1,397.25 after erasing losses in the final trading hour, while Bursa Malaysia’s index for small market capitalisation (small cap) stocks fell 1.07% as concerns over a second wave of Covid-19 infections drove global market sentiment. Analysts also expected Malaysia’s current corporate financial reporting season to affect local equity market sentiment.

At 5pm, the KLCI closed higher after trading in negative territory for most of the trading session today. The index had earlier fallen to its intraday low of 1,388.80 points.

The Small Cap Index closed down 123.95 points or 1.07% at 11,419.56.

“Moving forward, investors will brace [themselves] for a barrage of corporate earnings releases, albeit some companies have opted for deferment of the release of their financial performance,” Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong told theedgemarkets.com 

Leong said buying support for selected index-linked stocks at the 11th hour nudged the 30-company index up to close in positive territory.

Across Bursa, the exchange saw 7.01 billion securities worth RM4.04 billion traded. Decliners led gainers by 616 to 345 as KLCI-linked rubber glove manufacturers Top Glove Corp Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd ended among the top gainers. 

Top Glove’s share price closed 99 sen or 10.63% higher at RM10.30, while Hartalega rose 33 sen or 3.72% to RM9.19, as concerns over the second wave of Covid-19 infections led to expectations of higher demand for rubber gloves.

Globally, it was reported that stock markets fell and bonds were in demand today as worries grew about the second wave of the pandemic and a dour assessment by the head of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) dashed hopes for a quick economic recovery.