Bursa Malaysia ends higher
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia rebounded from last week’s trading jitters to end higher yesterday and in tandem with regional peers, while tracking the firmer Wall Street, as well as positive economic data from the region, dealers said.
At close, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 4.12 points higher at 1,771.08, after moving between 1,766.37 and 1,772.56.
It opened 0.45 of-a-point easier at 1,766.50 against last Friday’s close of 1,766.96.
Market breadth was positive, as gainers outpaced losers 506 to 315, with 384 counters unchanged, 637 untraded and 34 others suspended.
Volume fell to 1.52 billion units worth RM1.70 billion from 1.64 billion units worth RM1.89 billion on last Friday.
A dealer said Bursa Malaysia opened easier, but rebounded to trade higher a few minutes later, and stayed in positive territory for the rest of the trading day.
He said Asian stocks took cue from a firmer Wall Street on investor expectations of a slower rate hike following the weakerthan-expected 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.
Regionally, 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 million 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 million 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 million 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).