BURSA Malaysia continues to ride high on global equity optimism as it breaches the 1,300 immediate resistance level in the morning session.
At the lunch break, the key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 3.26% or 42.16 points to 1,333.30 from yesterday’s close of 1,291.14.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 710 to 207, while 262 counters were unchanged, 837 not traded and 26 others suspended.
Turnover spiked to 2.43 billion shares worth RM1.47 bil fom 285.69 million shares worth RM136.70 mil at the opening.
On technical analysis, the FBM KLCI’s new resistance level is 1,350 with the immediate support of 1,290.
Across indices, small- and mid-sized cap stocks rebounded, especially those linked to the energy and construction index, while blue-chips across the board demonstrated a positive upward momentum.
Among heavyweights, Public Bank led the gains by adding 90 sen to RM16.14, followed by Tenaga Nasional which rose by 34 sen to RM12.16.
Meanwhile, IHH was 19 sen higher at RM5.11 and CIMB increased 15 sen to RM3.59.
Consumer products and services dominated the top gainers today with PPB leading the pack after climbing RM1.58 to RM17.50, Carlsberg gained RM1.56 to RM23.06, Heineken up RM1.12 to RM21.78, Dutchlady rose RM1.02 to RM40.22 and Nestle increased 70 sen to RM135.20.
Of the actives, oil and gas-related counters continued to shine with Hibiscus increasing 2.5 sen to 33.5 sen and Bumi Armada adding 1.5 sen to 14.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index surged 300.02 points to 9,042.75, the FBM 70 gained 386.09 points to 10,084.82 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index garnered 321.14 points to 9,792.27.
The FBMT 100 Index increased by 296.67 points to 8,985.91 and the FBM Ace rose 113.75 points to 3,665.90.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 3.03 points to 100.35, the Plantation Index recovered 152.26 points to 5,986.44 and the Financial Services Index was 325.18 points better at 12,320.66. — March 25, 2020, Bernama
