BURSA Malaysia ended on a firm note today, on persistent buying support in heavyweights led by Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd and telecommunication sector stocks.
Tenaga contributed 3.23 point to the barometer index, Top Glove added 2.32 points, while Axiata and Digi contributed 2.25 and 1.76 points respectively.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI rose 12.97 points to 1,624.78 from Monday’s close of 1,611.81.
The market had opened 4.18 points higher at 1615.99, and moved between 1,612.29 and 1,625.22 during the day’s trading.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 634 to 551, while 459 counters were unchanged, 534 untraded and eight others suspended.
Total volume decreased to 8.12 billion units worth RM5.91 bil from Monday’s 9.8 billion units worth RM6.28 bil.
Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.81% to 28,773.23, Japan’s Nikkei was 0.99% higher at 29,027.94, Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 1.96% to 3,072.88, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.67% to 2,976.12.
A dealer said Asian shares ended mixed today as the United States’ US$1.9 tril stimulus package was seen to be imminent, but the positive sentiment was tempered by concerns about inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the local front, Bursa Malaysia stayed in the positive territory throughout the day as bargain hunting continued with signs of positive foreign fund flows due to the attractive valuations.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim told Bernama the bourse’s performance was buoyed by rubber glove counters namely Kossan and Top Glove which gained by more than 1% for the day.
“The strength in rubber glove counters came about as Top Glove released its second quarter result which achieved its highest ever quarterly sales revenue of RM5.37 billion, an increase of 336% from RM1.23 bil in the same quarter last year.
“This was despite an eight per cent decline in volume due to a temporary production halt in its Klang facilities in November and December 2020,” he said.
Other supporting counters were telecommunication stocks which saw share prices of Maxis Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd and Axiata Group Bhd gained by more than 2% for the day, he added.
Among the heavyweights, Public Bank Bhd added two sen to RM4.42 and Tenaga gained 30 sen to RM10.70, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd shed 15 sen to RM8.20, IHH Healthcare Bhd slid nine sen to RM5.20 while Malayan Banking Bhd was flat at RM8.50.
Of the actives, Jadi Imaging Holdings Bhd improved one sen to 13.5 sen, AirAsia Group Bhd gained six sen to RM1.02 and ManagePay Systems Bhd added three sen to 22 sen
Meanwhile, Sealink International Bhd reduced 4.5 sen to 24 sen while AirAsia X Bhd was flat at 9.5 sen. – March 9, 2021
