KUALA LUMPUR (March 30): Bursa Malaysia recovered losses to finish higher on Thursday (March 30), boosted mainly by Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem).

Overall, mild bargain hunting can be seen across sectors except for healthcare, consumer, telecommunications and construction.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI had gained 4.26 points to 1,424.61, from Wednesday's close at 1,420.35.

The main index opened 2.54 points lower at 1,417.81, and moved between 1,415.10 and 1,425.37 throughout the day.

Market breadth was positive, as gainers beat decliners at 479 to 381, while 395 counters were unchanged, 1,036 untraded, and 75 others suspended.

Turnover, however, was lower at 3.31 billion units worth RM1.63 billion, versus Wednesday's 3.42 billion units worth RM1.74 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said he expects the short-term outlook of the local market to be positive, given the overall improving sentiment, both regional and globally.

“Furthermore, we reckon that the local market would remain in an oversold position, hence we anticipate the KLCI to trend higher within the 1,420-1,435 range towards the weekend,” Thong told Bernama.

Overseas, he said, key regional indices trended mostly higher, following a positive cue from Wall Street overnight.

He added that the prospect of a break-up of China's conglomerate Alibaba suggests that Beijing's regulatory crackdown on tech companies may be easing, which is a positive development.

“On the other hand, investors remain vigilant about the situation of the banking sector in western countries,” he said.

Among local heavyweight counters, PetChem jumped 22 sen to RM7.13, while Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) at RM8.63 and Maxis Bhd at RM4.10 had bagged seven sen each.

MISC Bhd gained 10 sen to RM7.28, and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd added four sen to RM5.35.

MR DIY Group (M) Bhd lost 12 sen to RM1.53, and IHH Healthcare Bhd eased one sen to RM5.75.

As for the actives, BSL Corp Bhd dropped one sen to 1.5 sen, Sapura Energy Bhd was half a sen lower at 3.5 sen, Computer Forms (Malaysia) Bhd went down 1.5 sen to 22.5 sen, VinVest Capital Holdings Bhd fell 2.5 sen to 23 sen, and Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd tumbled two sen to four sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 36.39 points to 10,424.41, and the FBMT 100 Index rose 35.91 points to 10,119.28, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index ticked up 23.71 points to 10,722.79.

The FBM 70 Index grew 71.33 points to 13,481.64, but the FBM ACE Index went down 6.63 points to 5,203.33.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index went up 77.56 points to 15,766.74, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 2.87 points to 171.64, the Plantation Index rose 49.91 points to 6,730.48, and the Energy Index recovered 0.02 of a point to 832.27.

The Main Market volume widened to 2.43 billion shares worth RM1.32 billion, against 2.25 billion shares worth RM1.47 billion on Wednesday.   

Warrant turnover dwindled to 280.26 million units worth RM53.65 million, from 422.94 million units worth RM78.79 million.

The ACE Market volume narrowed to 604.14 million shares worth RM258.84 million, from 747 million shares worth RM191.12 million on Wednesday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 204.19 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services (1.12 billion), construction (131.59 million), technology (192.64 million), special purpose acquisition companies (nil), financial services (70.80 million), property (188.31 million), plantation (28.96 million), real estate investment trusts (9.86 million), closed/funds (20,100), energy (269.17 million), healthcare (90.86 million), telecommunications and media (47.93 million), transportation and logistics (20.35 million), and utilities (53.62 million).