Bursa Malaysia ends higher on continued buying momentum

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended higher for the second consecutive day yesterday on continued buying interest in selected heavyweights and finance counters, and in line with most regional bourses, dealers said.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.99 points to close at 1,803.70 versus Wednesday’s 1,800.70.

After opening 3.30 points higher at 1,804.01 yesterday, the index moved between 1,803.06 and 1,810.21 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 412 to 402, with 408 counters unchanged, 659 untraded and 28 others suspended.

Volume was lower at 1.94 billion units worth RM2.02 billion, from Wednesday’s 2.01 billion units valued at RM1.90 billion.

An analyst said that the equity markets do not seem to be concerned over the latest phase of the US-China trade war at the moment.

“Investors have been pricing negative news for months which has led several emerging markets into bear territory.

“When looking at the performance of global stock markets this week, investors still seem to believe that a deal between the largest two economies will be struck instead of a further escalation of trade tensions,” he said.

Of heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM9.79, Petronas Chemicals gained seven sen to RM9.48, CIMB increased two sen to RM6.14 while Public Bank slipped four sen to RM25.02 and TNB fell two sen to RM15.76.

Among actives, Sapura Energy improved one sen to 44 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum rose eight sen to RM1.09, D& O Green garnered 7.5 sen to 81.5 sen while Borneo Oil earned half-a-sen to six sen.

The FBM Emas Index rose 21.94 points to 12,564.57, the FBMT 100 Index increased 19.89 points to 12,380.38, the FBM 70 advanced 21.34 points to 14,813.20, the FBM Ace Index went up 11.04 points to 5,1894.15 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 21.70 points to 12,703.29.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index surged 73.86 points to 17,905.89, the Plantation Index added 15.28 points to 7,569.36 and the Industrial Index gained 2.18 points to 3,214.48.

Main Market volume increased to 1.36 billion shares worth RM1.89 billion, from Wednesday’s 1.31 billion shares worth RM1.73 billion.

Warrants turnover fell to 300.69 million units valued at RM67.58 million, from 391.63 million units worth RM97.89 million registered on Wednesday.

Volume on the ACE Market declined to 278.50 million units worth RM64.92 million, from 300.27 million shares valued at RM63.52 million recorded previously.

Consumer products accounted for 116.50 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products ( 321.31 million), construction ( 62.64 million), trade and services (526.50 million), technology ( 179.04 million), infrastructure (7.07 million), SPAC (789,800), finance (39.06 million), hotels (576,300), properties (89.05 million), plantations ( 15.06 million), mining (2,000), REITs (2.71 million), and closed/fund (18,100).

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