KUALA LUMPUR: High trading volume in Bursa Malaysia is expected to sustain for the week as economists believe buying momentum, particularly small and mid capitalisation stocks will remain solid.
Rakuten Trade head of research Kenny Yee said the high trading volume recorded since Monday was due to confluence of both the retailers and domestic funds.
He said although the benchmark FBM KLCI was slightly down on Monday - predominantly due to profit taking on glove counters - it was good to see most lower liners were performing well.
"We can expect high trading volume for the week as we reckon the buying momentum will remain solid. Also, we believe investors are looking at stock specific rather than sectors, especially those related to technology and healthcare," he told the New Straits Times yesterday.
Bursa closed higher after a volatile trading day, with the trading volume breaking another record high of 15.62 billion shares after breaching a fresh record on Monday.
FBM KLCI gained 3.33 points or 0.21 per cent to 1,575.94 from Monday's close of 1,572.61, led by ACE Market Index, which closed 486.36 points higher, or 5.27 per cent, ending the day at 9,660.18 points.
Trading volume was at 15.62 billion shares worth RM10.44 billion against Monday's 13.12 billion shares valued at RM8.24 billion.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said as of 12.30pm yesterday, shares of technology companies were the ones seeing high trading volume — led by Mtouche Technology Bhd with a volume of 667.2 million shares.
As such, it was no surprise that Bursa technology index led gainers among the sector with a 2.1 per cent gain as of midday.
Other sectors with huge trading volumes were healthcare stocks namely LKL international Bhd, Careplus Group Bhd and Sunzen Biotech Bhd, as well as small mid-cap industrial players.
"We opine that retail investor will continue to fuel the trading activities especially via small mid cap stocks.
"Recall that the FBM small cap index has almost doubled since middle of March this year.
"The growth in overall trading volume especially in healthcare and technology sectors should continue on the landscape that Covid-19 will be around for a long period," he said.
At midday break yesterday, FBM KLCI was down 1.13 per cent as glove stocks fell in heavy trade.
At 12.30pm, the index dropped 17.75 points to 1,554.86 points.
Trading volume surged to 11.06 billion shares valued at RM5.89 billion from 6.97 billion shares valued at RM4.66 billion recorded at Monday noon.
At noon, top losers were led by Hartalega Holdings Bhd, which fell RM1.62 to RM18.88 and Top Glove Corp Bhd, down RM1.28 to RM25.60.
Gainers outpaced losers 608 to 514, led by active counters such as Mtouche Technology, which closed 3.5 sen higher, or 46.7 per cent, to close at 11 sen, with 7.99 million shares traded.
AT Systemization Bhd closed 0.5 sen higher, or five per cent, to close at 10.5 sen, with 7.04 shares traded.
Bursa's technology index closed 1.78 points higher, or 3.33 per cent, to close at 55.31 points, while healthcare index closed 196.41 points higher, or 4.79 per cent, to close at 4,295.46 points.
Small cap index closed 207.06 points higher, or 1.56 per cent, to close at 13,472.34 points, while mid-cap index closed 148.24 points higher, or 0.93 per cent, to close at 16,011.50 points.