Bursa Malaysia closes higher
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher yesterday in line with the firmer regional markets amid cautious sentiment after Donald Trump took office as the new US President last Friday.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ( FBM KLCI) increased 6.42 points to end at 1,671.31 compared with Friday’s close of 1,664.89.
After opening 0.48 of- a-point higher at 1,665.92, the index moved between 1,664.35 and 1,674.62 throughout the day.
Market breadth was however negative with losers outpacing gainers by 467 to 322, with 358 counters unchanged, 587 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Volume fell to 1.53 billion shares worth RM1.81 billion from Friday’s 1.58 billion shares worth RM1.59 billion.
FXTM Vice President of Market Research Jameel Ahmad said investors were in a wait-and see mode for clarity on how the new president would implement his campaign promises before deciding on their next strategic positions.
“So far, the reaction on the markets has been fairly muted. It is going to take some time for Trump to unveil how he will implement his campaign promises.
“And, there is also a risk of investors taking profit,” he said in a note yesterday.
Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times increased 0.34 per cent to 3,021.43, China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.44 per cent to 3,136.77 and the Hang Seng Index added 0.06 per cent to 22,898.52.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index firmed 31.02 points to 11,699.57, the FBMT 100 Index rose 31.78 points to 11,404.32 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 35.84 points to 12,193.78.
The FBM 70 shed 9.01 points to 13,337.93 and the FBM Ace Index fell 52.42 points to 4,933.38.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Index was 29.73 points better at 3,155.26, the Finance Index added 60.38 points to 14,767.59, but the Plantation Index dropped 19.74 points to 7,895.38.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and IHH added one sen each to RM8.28 and RM6.31, respectively, Tenaga perked four sen to RM13.90 and Public Bank gained six sen to RM20.16.
As for actives, Hibiscus and Luster Industries climbed halfasen each to 46.5 sen and nine sen, respectively, AirAsia lost 14 sen to RM2.44 while Borneo Oil was unchanged at 16.5 sen.
Main Market turnover fell to 1.01 billion units worth RM1.73 billion from Friday’s 1.11 billion units worth RM1.52 billion.
ACE Market volume shrank to 267.50 million shares valued at RM505.58 million from Friday’s 320.40 million shares valued at RM51.01 million.
Warrants rose to 228.53 million units worth RM26.55 million from 139.18 million units worth RM19.09 million previously.
Consumer products accounted for 100.02 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products ( 240.03 million), construction (46.16 million), trade and services ( 395.19 million), technology (60.60 million), infrastructure (12.33 million), SPAC (1.27 million), finance ( 66.79 million), hotels ( 387,700), properties (60.04 million), plantations (15.44 million), mining (0), REITs (15.86 million), and closed/fund ( 9,000).