KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended 0.48% higher with trading volume across the board reaching an all-time high of 11.21 billion units.
Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd head of research Victor Wan said the rise in trading volume was mainly supported by buying interest in penny stocks as sentiment was boosted by higher crude oil prices, coupled with the re-opening of businesses around the world.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed 6.72 points, or 0.48%, higher at 1,410.16 from 1,403.44 at last Friday’s close.
The index opened 5.95 points firmer at 1,409.39 and hovered between 1,405.65 and 1,416.94 throughout the day.
Market breadth remained positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 663 to 331, while 348 counters were unchanged, 533 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 11.21 billion units worth RM4.4 bil from 9.23 billion units worth RM3.87 bil last Friday.
According to Wan, the key index was supported by broad-based buying, particularly in stocks related to oil and gas (O&G) and glove manufacturers.
“Meanwhile, investor sentiment was also lifted by the fact that there has been no bad news such as a drastic increase in new Covid-19 cases.
“However, market conditions still remain fluid at the moment,” he added.
Of the heavyweights, O&G-linked counters Dialog bagged nine sen to RM3.53 and Petronas Dagangan added 38 sen to RM20.06, while glove manufacturer Top Glove increased 12 sen to RM10.50.
Palm oil-related blue chips Sime Darby Plantation also improved nine sen to RM4.70 and KLK went up 34 sen to RM20.50.
At the close, the list of most active counters continued to be dominated by O&G-linked stocks, led by Icon Offshore which accumulated five sen to 12.5 sen, Velesto firmed three sen to 17 sen, Bumi Armada added 6.5 sen to 26 sen, KNM strengthened six sen to 24 sen and Hibiscus was 3.5 sen better at 61.5 sen.
Top gainer Bursa was 87 sen higher at RM7.50 while top loser Petronas Gas lost 18 sen to RM15.10.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded 111.27 points to 9,979.33, the FBMT 100 Index gained 99.33 points to 9,815.44, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index surged 165.86 points to 11,299.91.
The FBM ACE rose 13.21 points to 5,403.31 and the FBM 70 soared 339.03 points to 12,330.44.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index improved 85.85 points to 842.21 and the Financial Services Index strengthened 63.88 points to 12,331.09.
The Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 0.71 point to 121.59 and the Plantation Index gained 136.52 points to 6,333.68.
Main Market volume surged to 8.7 billion shares worth RM3.96 bil from 6.92 billion shares worth RM3.44 bil last Friday.
Warrants turnover widened to 539.83 million units valued at RM102.03 mil against 417.20 million units valued at RM90.33 mil previously.
Volume on the ACE Market increased to 1.96 million shares worth RM337.78 mil compared with 1.89 billion shares worth RM339.2 mil previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 584.84 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (781.94 million), construction (920.61 million), technology (399.26 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (50.04 million), property (451.02 million), plantations (187.14 million), REITs (91.87 million), closed/fund (68,500), energy (4.57 billion), healthcare (80.33 million), telecommunications and media (447.36 million), transportation and logistics (137.52 million), and utilities (73.97 million). – May 18, 2020, Bernama.
