Bursa Malaysia ends higher

He said Asian stocks took cue from a firmer Wall Street on investor expectations of a slower rate hike following the weakerthanexpected United States ( US) consumer price data released last Friday.

“Better-than-expected Japanese gross domestic product data also helped lift investors sentiments despite the below expectations Chinese economic data.

“The previous session’s sell- off, also sparked bargain hunting following the better sentiment in the market, as well as easing concerns over geopolitical tensions between the US and North Korea,” he added.

Regional ly, the Singapore Straits Times index rose 0.73 per cent to 3,303.75, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng improved 1.36 per cent to 27,250.23, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.63 per cent to 2,334.22, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.98 per cent to 19,537.10.

Among heavyweights, Tenaga improved two sen to RM14.22 and Petronas Chemicals bagged nine sen to RM7.11.

Sime Darby eased one sen to RM9.40, CIMB lost two sen to RM6.78, while Maybank and Public Bank were flat at RM9.69 and RM20.58 respectively.

Of the actives, Dagang Nexchange added 3.5 sen sen to 48.5 sen, Frontken was up three sen to 33.5 sen and Dagang Nexchange warrants improved 2.5 sen to 24.5 sen, with Compugates flat at three sen.

The FBM Emas Index was up 43.17 points to 12,545.61, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 54.47 points to 12,666.94, the FBMT 100 Index improved 39.81 points to 12,215.73, the FBM 70 jumped 91.35 points to 14,784.90 and the FBM Ace gained 81.13 points to 6,389.91.

Sector-wise,the Finance Index increased 9.47 points to 16,727.33 and the Plantation Index was 7.5 points higher at 7,795.35, while, the Industrial Index gained 11.80 points to 3,245.90.

The Main Market volume declined to 964.84 million shares worth RM1.58 billion from 1.08 mi l l ion shares worth RM1.77 billion on last Friday.

Volume on the ACE Market increased to 352.16 million units valued at RM97.87 million from 338.66 mil lion units valued at RM88.54 million previously.

Warrants slipped to 203.90 million shares worth RM21.10 million from 205.59 million shares worth RM31.09 million previously.

Consumer products accounted for 33.91 mi l l ion shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products ( 201.05 million), construction ( 53.97 million), trade and services ( 450.60 million), technology ( 37.95 million), infrastructure (10.33 million), SPAC (334,100), finance ( 55.32 million), hotels (2.40 million), properties .( 93.28 million), plantations ( 13.12 million), mining (8,600), REITs (12.57 million) and closed/fund (2,900).

For further information on stocks and prices, please visit www.bursamalaysia.com.