KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 5): The FBM KLCI ended the day marginally higher and bucked regional market trends as worries over the Delta coronavirus variant persisted and hawkish remarks from senior US Federal Reserve officials weighed on investors’ risk appetite.

The benchmark index finished 4.45 points or 0.3% higher at 1,495.78.

“The FBM KLCI index rebounded today, propelled by gains in index members, namely Digi.Com Bhd and Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, which advanced by more than 2% during the day.

“On a sectoral basis, the Bursa Malaysia Technology index gained the most after ending 1.3%. Looking at a broader scale, the FBM KLCI bucked the regional trend as most of its Asian peers such as Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines were in the red amid hawkish comments by the US Federal Reserve, citing that it may taper its asset purchasing programme soon,” said Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim.

Shares in Digi settled 11 sen or 2.63% higher at RM4.30 while plantation group Sime Darby Plantation ended seven sen or 2.08% higher at RM3.44 on late buying activity.

Adam added that the daily gains also occurred despite daily Covid-19 cases reaching another record high today, as investors were probably bargain hunting.

Malaysia's daily number of newly confirmed Covid-19 cases climbed past 20,000 for the first time to a record high of 20,596 today from yesterday's 19,819 as the number of fresh cases rose in states including Selangor, Johor and Sabah.

Overall market breadth was positive, with 517 counters closing higher, versus 435 that fell into the red and 450 that were unchanged.

A total of 4.69 billion shares were traded at a value of RM2.42 billion, compared with 3.66 billion shares worth RM2.54 billion yesterday.

The top gainers were SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd (up RM1.68 or 15.85% to RM12.28), Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (up RM1.06 or 4.34% to RM25.50) and Nestle (M) Bhd (up 90 sen or 0.68% to RM133.90).

Among the top losers were Hong Leong Capital Bhd (down 21 sen or 3.49% to RM5.80), Chin Teck Plantations Bhd (down 14 sen or 2% to RM6.86) and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (down 11 sen or 1.12% to RM9.72).

VSolar Group Bhd, which saw 879.66 million shares changing hands, was the most actively traded stock of the day.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported South Korean shares edged down on Thursday as it reported 1,776 new coronavirus cases for Wednesday, more than a day earlier and nearing the daily record of 1,895 marked last week, as it struggled to tame the worst-ever outbreak of variant strains.

South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.13% to 3,276.13, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished 0.52% lower at 27,728.12.

The Shanghai Composite index closed 0.31% lower at 3,466.55, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.84% to 26,204.69.