KUALA LUMPUR (April 9): The FBM KLCI closed 9.85 points or 0.61% higher, making today the third consecutive day of gains, boosted by a rise in telecommunications counters following the Celcom-Digi merger news yesterday.

At 5pm, the local benchmark index closed at 1,612.25 points. Today, the index only traded in positive territory, ranging between 1,605.27 and 1,615.49 points.

TA Securities Holdings Bhd senior technical analyst Stephen Soo told theedgemarkets.com today the merger talks between Axiata Group Bhd’s Celcom Axiata Bhd and Digi.Com Bhd had sent the two counters soaring, which in turn sent the benchmark index up.

Yesterday, news broke that local firm Axiata and Norway's Telenor ASA will be combining their mobile operations in Malaysia.

Following the surge of rubber glove counters yesterday, Soo views the pullback today as “healthy”.

Going forward, however, Soo noted that with the recent increase in daily new Covid-19 cases, there could be a shift of focus towards healthcare stocks from the recovery play if infections continue to spike.

According to him, the KLCI needs more catalysts, such as clearer developments on the political front or the roll-out of the 5G network.

“Next week, we could see the [KLCI] trade sideways, maybe with a slight upward bias,” said Soo.

He noted that the KLCI's resistance levels are at 1,635 and 1,642 points, while its support levels are at 1,572 and 1,550 points.

Today, Bursa Malaysia saw 6.58 billion shares worth RM4.14 billion traded. There were 511 gainers and 558 losers, while 452 counters remained unchanged.

Among the blue chips, telcos were the biggest winners, led by Digi.Com that was 18.93% or 71 sen higher and closed at RM4.46. This was followed by Axiata and Maxis Bhd.

Axiata closed up 8.16% or 31 sen at RM4.11, while Maxis grew 1.91% or nine sen to RM4.80.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 increased 0.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 1.07%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.92% and South Korea's KOSPI slid 0.36%.

Reuters reported that global stocks hit record highs today after tech shares on Wall Street cheered receding US inflation fears, with the lack of inflation pressure keeping bond yields near two-week lows.

US Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell reiterated late yesterday that inflation was not a worry, following data showing an unexpected rise in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits, the newswire added.