KUALA LUMPUR (March 9): The FBM KLCI rose 0.8% or 12.97 points to its one-month high of 1,624.78 today, lifted by gains seen among DiGi.Com Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd and Top Glove Corp Bhd. 

Top Glove, which announced another set of record-breaking quarterly earnings earlier today, closed 2.98% or 15 sen higher at RM5.19, valuing it at RM42.57 billion. DiGi.Com shares were up 3.35% or 12 sen at RM3.70, while Axiata climbed 3.64% or 13 sen to RM3.70.

Areca Capital chief executive officer Danny Wong, who noted that the market had been see-sawing from the start of this month, said the main driver of the gains seen today was liquidity-fuelled bargain hunting.

This sort of volatility, he added, is to be expected in the recovery phase of the equity market, given the current market sentiment.

In a note earlier today, TA Securities Research said stocks should sustain recovery momentum given the optimism over economic recovery potential, while supply cuts by OPEC+ should support the firm trend in global oil prices, therefore enhancing the uptrend in oil and gas-related stocks.

“On the index, resurgent buying momentum is crucial to overcome profit-taking resistance from 1,620, 1,640 and 1,660. Key chart supports will be the 100-day and 200-day moving averages at 1,585 and 1,558 respectively,” the research house noted.

Top actives included Jadi Imaging Holdings Bhd, Sealink International Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd. Top value gainers were led by Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Dataprep Holdings Bhd and KESM Industries Bhd, while among the top losers were Greatech Technology Bhd, Rapid Synergy Bhd and Complete Logistic Services Bhd.

A total of 8.12 billion shares worth RM5.91 billion were traded today.

The FBM KLCI’s performance today was broadly in line with the performances of other regional indices. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up by 0.99% or 284.69 points at 29,072.94, whereas Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 0.81% or 232.40 points higher at 28,773.23. However, the Shanghai Composite was 1.82% or 62.12 points lower at 3,359.29.

Asian stocks managed to recover from earlier losses today, following firmer US equity futures and central bank comments aimed at soothing fears about rising bond yields and inflation, according to Reuters, with a pullback in US bond yields also buoying equity markets.

“People's Bank of China vice governor Chen Yulu told Yicai Global that China's money supply would grow only to match GDP growth and the country's central bank did not see a need for major stimulus support in the next five years.

"NASDAQ futures bounced 1.1% and S&P 500 futures 0.73%. European futures were slightly lower, however, with EUROSTOXX 50 futures down 0.13% and FTSE futures 0.25% lower,” Reuters reported.