KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher today as bargain hunting emerged following the recent sell-off.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) notched up 6.03 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 1,640.94 against Wednesday's close of 1,634.91.
The barometer index, which opened 4.84 points firmer at 1,639.75, moved between 1,638.67 and 1,646.14 throughout the day.
On the broader market, gainers led decliners 568 to 434, with 540 counters unchanged, 899 untraded and 22 suspended.
Turnover fell to 2.63 billion units valued at RM2.30 billion from 3.22 billion units valued at RM2.47 billion yesterday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the recent news on China's central bank kicking off a five hundred billion yuan swap facility to aid the stock market is anticipated to positively impact investor sentiment, potentially benefiting the Malaysian stock market.
"On the local front, the benchmark index is moving towards the 1,650 resistance level, and should it break and maintain this level for a longer period of time, stronger upward momentum could follow in the near future.
"Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,640-1,650 towards the weekend," he said.
Among the actives, Pertama Digital Bhd rose 6.5 sen to 31 sen, MY E.G. Service Bhd rose three sen to 94 sen, while Top Glove Corp Bhd fell two sen to RM1.03 from its previous close of RM1.05.