Bursa Malaysia ends higher in thin trading

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended higher in thin trading yesterday buoyed by buying interest in selected index-linked heavyweights amid the year-end window dressing, dealers said.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.03 points to 1,760.24 after opening 1.64 points higher at 1,752.85, from Thursday’s close of 1,751.21.

The local stock market saw choppy trading earlier but stayed positive towards closing, moving between 1,748.49 and 1,760.24.

Market breadth was however negative with 442 losers against 400 gainers, while 429 counters were unchanged, 596 untraded and 33 others suspended.

Total volume fell to 1.63 billion shares worth RM1.54 billion from 2.47 billion shares valued at RM2.06 billion on Thursday.

A dealer said most investors were cautious ahead of the long weekend as the local bourse will be closed on Monday for the Christmas holiday.

Besides that, the dealer said optimism on US tax cut plans and increase in oil prices also boosted the stock market.

Among heavyweights, both Maybank and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM9.48 and RM7.60, respectively, while Tenaga and Public Bank each gained two sen to RM14.98 and RM20.70, respectively.

Of the actives, PUC fell one sen to 31 sen, DGB Asia added half-a-sen to 17.5 sen, Sapura Energy lost half-a-sen to 71 sen and Asiamet Education rose 2.5 sen to 20 sen.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index was up 60.61 points to 12,661.75, FBMT 100 Index increased 62.44 points to 12,334.27 and the FBM Ace added 12.01 points to 6,465.50.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index surged 79.48 points to 13,010.87 and the FBM 70 jumped 76.34 points to 15,650.44.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index perked 26.68 points to 16,594.83, the Industrial Index improved 19.70 points to 3,192.53 and the Plantation Index put on 66.58 points to 7,900.40.

Main Market volume declined to 1.03 billion units worth RM1.43 billion compared with 1.25 billion units valued at RM1.86 billion on Thursday.

Volume on the ACE Market shrank to 436 million shares worth RM90.30 million from 978 million shares valued at RM159.32 million.

Warrants volume fell to 158.50 million units worth RM23.17 million from 210.55 million units valued at RM30.60 million on Thursday.

Consumer products accounted for 46.78 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (327.31 million), construction (51.04 million), trade and services (367.12 million), technology (105.82 million), infrastructure (5.56 million), SPAC (667,100), finance (39.85 million), hotels (214,000), properties (72.45 million), plantations (10.68 million), mining (7,100), REITs (2.76 million), and closed/fund (11,000).