KUALA LUMPUR (June 3): The FBM KLCI rebounded into positive territory at the 11th hour today, believed to be driven by foreign buying activities, after remaining subdued below its previous close for most of the day.

At 5pm, the benchmark index closed 4.55 points or 0.28% higher at 1,655.31 points, with a day range between 1,642.66 points, and 1,656.68 points.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong told theedgemarkets.com that market sentiment earlier today was dampened by intensifying trade tension between US and Mexico, and US and China.

“The market was relatively quiet today, due to the mid-week Hari Raya break, and volume was lower as well.

"The climb in the final hour today was likely to be foreign buying, we are still waiting for today’s market participation details from Bursa, but foreign funds have been recording net buying since last Thursday,” he noted.

Earlier, Reuters’ report on the Southeast Asian market mentioned that the Philippine shares climbed for the fifth straight session on Monday after the Central Bank governor's promise of further policy easing on Friday, while other Southeast Asian equities declined due to heightened Sino-US tensions over the weekend.

In the Asian region, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.92%, Hong Kong Hang Seng declined 0.03% while South Korea Kospi gained 1.28%.

Back home, total volume traded on Bursa Malaysia was 1.6 billion worth RM1.55 billion. There were 266 gainers versus 577 losers, with 355 counters remaining unchanged.

Notable gainers included Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd, while losers included Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Allianz Malaysia Bhd.

Hang Seng Index Structured Put Warrant (HIS-H6S) was the most actively traded counter with 87.46 million shares done, followed by Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd with 47.74 million shares traded.