KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 12): Bursa Malaysia ended Thursday's (Jan 12) trading session little changed as investors seemed reluctant to make more significant moves due to the absence of buying catalysts amid a better regional market performance, said a dealer.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose marginally by 0.79 of-a-point or 0.05% to 1,488.66 from Wednesday's closing of 1,487.87.

The market bellwether, which opened 0.7 of-a-point firmer at 1,488.57, moved at a narrow range between 1,486.15 and 1,491.35 throughout the day.

Market breadth was negative with losers surpassing gainers 467 to 441, while 403 counters were unchanged, 891 untraded, and 12 others suspended.

Turnover was unchanged at 3.57 billion units worth RM2.75 billion against Wednesday's 3.57 billion units worth RM2.17 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the key regional indices closed mostly higher ahead of the release of the US inflation data on Thursday.

Region-wise, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.36% to 21,514.1, China’s SSE Composite Index added 0.05% to 3,163.45, Japan’s Nikkei 225 improved 0.01% to 26,449.82, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.24% to 2,365.1, while Singapore's Straits Times Index slid 0.11% to 3,267.78.

"Back home, we reckon the performance of FBM KLCI to remain steady, supported by improving fundamentals of the local economy although resistance remains strong around the 1,500 level," Thong told Bernama.

As such, he anticipates the benchmark index to move within the 1,485-1,500 range towards the weekend.

Among heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) slipped three sen to RM8.80, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd lost two sen to RM5.75, Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM4.31, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd was unchanged at RM9.40, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd added five sen to RM8.35.

As for the actives, newly listed NationGate Holdings Bhd rose 62 sen to RM1, Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) perked up two sen to 58 sen, Artroniq Bhd climbed three sen to 86.5 sen, Borneo Oil Bhd was flat at two sen, while Dolphin International Bhd fell one sen to 1.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 16.38 points to 10,742.76, the FBMT 100 Index inched up 17.16 points to 10,441.08, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 27.76 points firmer at 10,944.85.

The FBM 70 Index was 72.16 points better at 13,341.47, and the FBM ACE Index garnered 18.87 points to 5,428.63.   

Sector-wise, the Energy Index climbed 2.37 points to 816.27, the Technology Index put on 1.25 points to 66.29, the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 0.51 of-a-point to 183.81, while the Financial Services Index dipped 27.77 points to 16,537.69, and the Plantation Index slid 12.06 points to 6,922.62.

The Main Market volume dwindled to 1.80 billion shares worth RM1.76 billion compared with Wednesday’s 2.36 billion shares worth RM1.83 billion.

Warrants turnover eased to 334.13 million units worth RM81.89 million from 334.68 million units worth RM77.61 million on Wednesday.

The ACE Market volume expanded to 1.43 billion shares worth RM907.77 million from 871.35 million shares worth RM265.24 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 225.38 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (744.15 million), construction (55.49 million), technology (273.29 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (51.16 million), property (89.31 million), plantation (55.52 million), REITs (7.28 million), closed/fund (7,000), energy (153.44 million), healthcare (66.69 million), telecommunications and media (30.75 million), transportation and logistics (35.13 million), and utilities (15.92 million).