New BNM governor appointment lifts Bursa Malaysia at close

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Mal aysi a closed higher yesterday as investors reacted positively to the appointment of the new Bank Negara Malaysia ( BNM) Governor, Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus.

A dealer said with Nor Shamsiah’s vast experience in the industry, the appointment had boos t ed inve s t or s’ conf idence in the loc a l market.

At the close, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ( FBM KLCI) went up 1.83 points, or 0.11 per cent, to finish at 1,694.15 from Thursday’s close of 1,692.32.

The index opened 9.35 points lower at 1,682.97 and moved between 1,678.03 and 1,699.95 throughout the day.

Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 480 to 350, while 417 counters were unchanged, 679 untraded and 31 others suspended.

Volume, however, was lower at two billion shares worth RM2.22 billion from 2.12 billion shares worth RM2.67 billion previously.

In a press conference earlier in the afternoon yesterday, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced the appointment of Nor Shamsiah as the new BNM Governor for a term of five years, effective from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2023.

Nor Shamsiah was the Deputy Governor of BNM from 2010 until 2016, and she recently served as Assistant Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Division of the International Monetary Fund.

Meanwhile, Hermana Capital Bhd chief executive officer and chief investment officer Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the rebound since midafternoon today was owing to the recent correction which dragged the local bourse to slightly more than a 15-month low previously.

“The market has experienced a correction of about 10.3 per cent since the beginning of the year to previously, which is also the largest correction seen since 2009,” he told Bernama.

Among heav ywei ght s , Maybank edged up two sen to RM9.19 and Public Bank rose 30 sen to RM22.92, while Tenaga fell 14 sen to RM13.80, CIMB eased two sen to RM5.81 and Petronas Chemicals was unchanged at RM8.40.

Of the actives, Sapura Energy improved 4.5 sen to 64.5 sen, PUC and Iris ticked up halfasen each to 19.5 sen and 15.5 sen respectively, while Barakah slipped half- a- sen to 15.5 sen and MyEG was flat at RM1.00.

United Plantations led the top gainers list, bagging RM1.00 to RM27.30 while top loser was BAT which erased 96 sen to RM35.12.

The FBM Emas Index increased 16.57 points to 11,973.46, the FBMT100 Index advanced 13.43 points to 11,758.64, the FBM70 was 19.24 points firmer at 14,561.80 and the FBM Ace Index jumped 109.01 points to 5,267.46.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index was down 4.97 points at 12,041.89,

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