Bursa trends higher on positive sentiment

BURSA Malaysia rose yesterday on the back of positive sentiment surrounding the global market due to easing tensions between the United States and China.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.42 points to 1,593.00.

The index opened 0.10-of-a-point lower at 1,589.48 from Wednesday’s close of 1,589.58 and moved between 1,589.21 and 1,593.05 throughout the day.

Overall, market breadth was on the borderline as gainers numbered 398 while losers stood at 370, with 447 counters unchanged, 786 untraded and 27 others suspended.

Turnover declined to 1.81 billion units worth RM1.61 billion compared with 2.19 billion units worth RM1.62 billion on Wednesday.

However,ananalystsaidtheupward momentum would be temporary as talks between the two economic superpowers often went sideways instead of in a clear positive direction.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank improved eight sen to RM8.70, Public Bank inched up six sen to RM20.10, and Axiata and Hong Leong Bank both rose eight sen to RM4.35 and RM16.34, respectively.

As for the actives, newly-listed MTAG bagged 3.5 sen to 47.5 sen, Bumi Armada added one sen to 35 sen, Inari climbed six sen to RM1.84 and Green Packet increased 1.5 sen to 72.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index advanced 31.35 points to 11,271.16, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 29.33 points to 11,104.33 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 30.83 points higher at 11,817.63.

The FBM 70 gained 59.51 points to 14,030.00 and the FBM ACE rose 46.39 points to 4,585.59.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 81.85 points to 15,443.27 and the Plantation Index accrued 23.19 points to 6,774.15, but the Industrial Products & Services Index was 0.03-point lower at 153.29.

Main Market volume increased to 1.94 billion units worth RM1.47 billion compared with yesterday’s 1.18 billion units worth RM1.33 billion.

Warrants turnover, meanwhile, declined to 319.63 million units worth RM70.77 million from 338.19 million units worth RM70.20 million on Wednesday.

Volume on the ACE Market tumbled to397.30millionsharesworthRM69.40 million from 665.83 million shares worth RM218.77 previously.

The FBM KLCI futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives also ended higher in line with the stronger underlying market.

Atclose,spotmonthSeptember2019 increased 2.0 points to 1,584.5, October 2019 and December 2020 rose 1.5 points to 1,584.0 and 1,588.5, respectively, while March 2020 appreciated 2.5 points to 1,587.5.

Turnover increased to 29,475 lots from 26,114 on Wednesday, while open interest widened to 63,208 contracts from 58,559 previously.