Bursa Malaysia ends in positive territory

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed in positive territory yesterday in line with most Asian stock markets, dealers said.

At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,664.96, up 0.24 of-a-point from Tuesday’s close of 1,664.72.

After opening 0.05 of-a-point better at 1,664.77 this morning, the market bellwether fluctuated between 1,663.88 and 1,671.07 throughout the day.

Losers led gainers 397 to 370 while 425 counters were unchanged, 516 untraded and 79 others suspended.

Volume rose to 1.58 billion units worth RM2.02 billion from 1.49 billion units worth RM1.85 billion.

A dealer said towards the end of third quarter, window-dressing activities would buoy equity markets.

“The sentiment has also improved this morning following the conclusion of the first US presidential debate, which saw Hillary Clinton winning the battle against Donald Trump.

Another dealer said the local bourse had picked up earlier in the day following nibbling by foreign funds.

On another development, he said although Malaysia’s ranking in global competitiveness fell seven rungs to 25th spot out of 138 economies, it remained the most competitive economy among developing countries in Asia.

“It is important to note that the decline in the ranking was due to unfavourable development in the education pillar instead of business pillar...so overall, Malaysia is still a strategic business location,” he said.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index rose 15.89 points to 11,776.38, the FBMT100 Index increased 15.70 points to 11,477.92 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 4.82 points better at 12,414.07.

The FBM 70 increased 69.68 points to 13,850.90 but the FBM Ace declined 69.69 points to 5,229.08.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index rose 38.83 points to 14,314.95, the Plantation Index gained 12.42 points to 7,973.86, while the Industrial Index was 11.61 points lower at 3,111.59.

Of the heavyweights, Tenaga rose two sen to RM14.42, Public Bank was flat at RM19.94, while Maybank and Petronas Chemicals dropped seven sen and 10 sen to RM7.52 and RM6.60, respectively.

Among actives, Sanichi added half-a-sen to eight sen, MBSB rose three sen to 94.5 sen, Hiap Teck gained one sen to 34 sen, while IHH was two sen better at RM6.33.

Main market turnover increased to 1.04 billion shares valued at RM1.92 billion from 873.44 million shares worth RM1.75 billion on Tuesday.

The ACE Market volume fell to 236.26 million units valued at RM38.56 million from 307.61 million units valued at RM40.46 million.

Warrants increased to 303.88 million shares worth RM57.93 million against 296.57 million shares worth RM57.84 million previously.

Consumer products accounted for60.28millionsharestradedonthe Main Market, industrial products ( 279.45 million), construction (55.28 million), trade and services (370.81 million), technology (31.80 million), infrastructure ( 10.63 million), SPAC (48.79 million), finance (80.14 million), hotels (321,900), properties (77.56 million), plantations (19.34 million), mining (15,000), REITs (6.59 million) and closed/fund (78,500). — Bernama