Bursa ends at day’s high on last-minute buying

BURSA Malaysia rose 0.64 per cent to end at the day’s high on the back of consistent buying in index-linked counters at the eleventh hour.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 10.22 points to close at 1,603.56 compared with Friday’s close of 1,593.34.

The key index opened 4.94 points higher at 1,598.28, which was also the intra-day low.

An analyst said this was in line with the positive market sentiment locally and globally, which had pushed the local bourse to break through its immediate resistance level of 1,600.

Gainers outnumbered losers 451 to 361, while 410 counters were unchanged, 738 untraded and 28 others suspended.

Volume expanded to 2.5 billion shares worth RM1.85 billion from 2.3 billion shares worth RM1.91 billion last Friday.

The biggest gainers among the heavyweights included Petronas Chemicals, which climbed 14 sen to RM7.62 and added 1.97 to the FBM KLCI, while Tenaga Nasional rose 12 sen to RM14, contributing 1.20 to the index.

Among other heavyweights, Kuala Lumpur Kepong was up 28 sen at RM21.98, while Digi and Dialog each added three sen to RM4.71 and RM3.50, respectively.

Of the actives, Sapura and ARB both gained half-a-sen to 26.5 sen and 37.5 sen, Prestariang added one sen to 52.5 sen, while IFCA MSC increased 4.5 sen to 54.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index ended 71.88 points stronger at 11,352.01, the FBMT 100 Index improved 74.02 points to 11,126.70, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 103.88 points to 11,928.26.

Meanwhile, the FBM ACE advanced 48.62 points to 5,028.05 and the FBM 70 added 104.98 points to 14,044.90.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 5.32 points to 15,579.99, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.40 point to 154.59, and the Plantation Index earned 87.74 points to 6,836.78.

Main Market volume narrowed to 1.77 billion shares worth RM1.65 billion from 2.05 billion shares worth RM1.47 billion last Friday.

Volume on the ACE Market rose to 488.57 million worth RM148.06 million from last week’s 466.39 million units worth RM124.56 million.

The FBM KLCI futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed on a positive note yesterday, in line with the upward momentum in the underlying cash market.

At the close, spot month November 2019, December 2019 and March 2020 all added 12.5 points each to 1,604.5, 1,606.5 and 1,603.0 respectively, while June 2020 was 14 points higher at 1,603.0.

Turnover rose to 8,090 lots from 7,044 lots last Friday while open interest increased to 36,944 contracts from 34,937 contracts previously.