Bursa Malaysia ends at intra-day high

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed at an intra-day high for the fifth consecutive session this week, lifted by last-minute buying in heavyweight stocks led by Petronas Gas and Axiata.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ( FBM KLCI) finished 2.91 points higher at 1,769.14 from Thursday’s close of 1,766.23.

The index moved between 1,760.25 and 1,769.14 during the day after opening 2.17 points lower at 1,764.06.

However, the broader market was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 511 to 382 while 404 counters were unchanged, 634 untraded and 81 others suspended.

Volume decreased to 2.34 billion units valued at RM1.98 billion, from Thursday’s 3.03 billion units worth RM2.73 billion.

A dealer said Bursa Malaysia edged higher in the last 10 minutes of trading, despite being in the red for most of the session yesterday.

Petronas and Axiata contributed 2.579 points to the barometer index.

On the broader Asian market, the market was mixed with a cautious tone amid a mixed performance on Wall Street overnight, with technology stocks led by Facebook weighing on US stocks.

“Investors remained cautious of a trade war between the US and China. There are worries that the US would increase pressure on China as the trade war between the US-Europe receded as they agreed to work together to lower trade barriers,” he added.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.56 per cent to 22,712.75, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.08 per cent to 28,804.28, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.26 per cent to 2,294.99, the Shanghai Stock Exchange fell 0.30 per cent to 2,873.59, and the Singapore Straits Times Index decreased 0.17 per cent to 3,323.09.

Of heavyweights, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals gained two sen each to RM24.04 and RM8.84 respectively, CIMB slid one sen to RM5.89, Maybank eased two sen to RM9.88 while Tenaga was flat at RM15.10.

Among actives, Salcon warrant rose 10 sen to 11 sen, MRCB gained 5.5 sen to 81 sen, Pegasus Heights edged up half-a-sen to three sen and Priceworth International improved one sen to 8.5 sen, while Sapura Energy eased half-a-sen to 60.5 sen.

For top gainers, Petronas Gas rose 46 sen to RM19.0, Panasonic Manufacturing bagged 34 sen to RM38.34 while BAT and Power Root warrant gained 30 sen to RM33.80 and 30.5 sen respectively,

The FBM Emas Index was 12.0 points higher at 12,558.28, the FBMT 100 Index increased 13.12 points to 12,337.06 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 15.08 points to 12,691.33.

The FBM Ace Index gained 7.58 points to 5,459.14 but the FBM 70 fell 10.24 points to 15,494.81.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index added 3.13 points to 7,552.96, the Industrial Index advanced 33.85 points to 3,284.91 and the Finance Index improved 10.68 points to 17,453.25.

Main Market volume decreased to 1.68 billion shares valued at RM1.79 billion, from 1.98 billion shares worth RM2.46 billion recorded on Thursday.

Warrant turnover was lower at 413.60 million units valued at RM126.27 million, versus Thursday’s 643.43 million units worth RM191.18 million.

Volume on the ACE Market fell to 244.26 million shares worth RM63.60 million, from 407.25 million shares valued at RM81.77 million transacted previously.

Consumer products accounted for 107.07 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products ( 362.55 million), construction (144.94 million), trade and services ( 717.21 million), technology (83.22 million), infrastructure (10.27 million), SPAC (257,400), finance (43.47 million), hotels (467,900), properties (191.18 million), plantations (12.28 million), mining (60,300), REITs (3.77 million), and closed/fund (nil).

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