KUALA LUMPUR (June 29): After starting off negatively, the FBM KLCI rebounded in the final hour of trading to close in positive territory amid fresh interest in glove and healthcare counters.

The benchmark index ended the day 6.29 points or 0.42% higher at 1,494.43, while the broader market was down with losers outnumbering gainers by 662 to 371.

The local market’s weaker start was in line with the rest of the region as sentiment was affected by concerns over the worsening global Covid-19 situation.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd remisier Jeffry Azizi Jaafar said news of a possible second outbreak of Covid-19, however, also resulted in fresh buying interest in glove makers and healthcare players.

“The death toll from Covid-19 reached half a million people on Sunday, while reported deaths around the world reached 500,000 fatalities with more than 10 million reported cases,” he told theedgemarkets.com.

This, he said, led to renewed buying of counters like Supermax Corp Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, Comfort Gloves Bhd, Careplus Group Bhd and HLT Global Bhd.

The biggest gainers among the KLCI component stocks included Top Glove (up 5.37% or 80 sen to RM15.7), IHH Healthcare Bhd (up 4.48% or 24 sen to RM5.60) and Hartalega Holdings Bhd (up 4.69% or 56 sen higher at RM12.50).

Regional markets were all in the red as a result of sharp spikes in new Covid-19 infections in China and around the world, which raised concerns about the country’s nascent economic recovery, Reuters reported.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.01% and the Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.61%.