Bursa tracks gains on Wall Street

BURSA Malaysia ended firmly at the day’s high as regional markets were lifted by upbeat United States corporate earnings and on hopes of a Brexit deal breakthrough, said a dealer.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 8.67 points to close at 1,574.90 compared with 1,566.23 on Tuesday.

Theindex,whichopened1.87points higher at 1,568.10, moved between 1,567.87 and 1,574.90 throughout the day.

Market breadth was positive as gainers led losers 458 to 426 with 378 countersunchanged,714untradedand 14 others suspended.

Turnover surged to 3.06 billion shares worth RM2.23 billion, from 2.62 billion shares worth RM1.73 billion on Tuesday.

Philip Capital Management senior vice-president (investment) Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the FBM KLCI traded higher following the bullish performance on Wall Street and in response to the optimism post2020 Budget.

He said global markets were also optimistic on a smooth UK Brexit, reduced Middle East political tensions and a small breakthrough in the US-China trade deal.

The local market was expected to have a stronger trading momentum ahead as the government outlined special incentive packages to attract Fortune 500 companies with the intent of supporting and boosting the capabilities of local small and medium enterprises, he added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank edged up one sen to RM8.52, Tenaga gained six sen to RM13.76, Petronas Chemicals bagged two sen to RM7.31 and IHH Healthcare rose seven sen to RM5.70.

Public Bank was flat at RM19.26. Of the most actives, I-Stone added two sen to 24.5 sen, MTAG Group climbed 3.5 sen to 47.5 sen and KNM Group eased half-a-sen to 44 sen while SapuraEnergyandNetXHoldingswere flat at 27 sen and two sen, respectively.

The FBM Emas Index increased 60.61 points to 11,216.85, the FBMT 100 Index added 63.98 points to 11,032.80 and the FBM 70 surged 95.32 points to 14,164.66.

The FBM Emas Syariah Index was 67.05 points higher at 11,836.38 while the FBM ACE rose 73.86 points to 4,714.43.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 61.98 points to 15,207.91, the Plantation Index bagged 38.68 points to 6,673.82, and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.69 point better at 152.12.

The FBM KLCI futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended higher, in line with the firmer cash market performance.

At the close, spot month October 2019 was five points higher at 1,572, November 2019 increased 6.5 points to 1,573.5, December 2019 gained 5.5 points to 1,574.5 and March 2020 rose 4.5 points to 1,574.5.

Turnover rose to 6,407 lots from 5,751 lots on Tuesday, while open interest widened to 33,021 contracts from 32,429 contracts.