BURSA Malaysia continued its upward momentum to close higher, driven by persistent buying support in selected utilities as well as telecommunications and media counters, in line with bullish sentiment on the regional market, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) jumped 11.22 points to end at 1,601.38 from Friday’s close of 1,590.16.
The index opened 3.03 points better at 1,593.19 and moved between 1,592.10 and 1,604.90 throughout the session.
Market breadth was positive with gainers surpassing decliners 537 to 503, while 460 counters were unchanged, 746 untraded and 50 others suspended.
Turnover was higher at 4.43 billion units worth RM3.67 bil compared with 4.08 billion units worth RM2.96 bil on Friday.
A dealer said that Asian stock markets were traded mostly higher on Monday, responding to the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday following US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks at the Jackson Hole symposium on the same day.
However, he said the upside is limited as traders remain cautious amid the COVID-19 situation in the region and in several countries, which continues to buffer economic activity.
On the domestic front, another dealer said that the local bourse gain continued support amid easing political risk and reopening of business activities.
He said investors also reacted positively to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s target to achieve a vaccination rate of over 50% for adult population in six states (Perak, Terengganu, Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Sabah) by the end of September while considering moving the Klang Valley into Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan.
Petronas Gas and Axiata Group were the top two contributors towards the local index today with a total of 3.61 points, gaining 54 sen and 10 sen each to end at RM16.80 and RM4.14 respectively.
Among other heavyweights, Maybank rose 3.0 sen to RM8.40, Petronas Chemicals improved 10 sen to RM8.30, Tenaga Nasional went up 8.0 sen to RM10.46, IHH Healthcare added 5 sen to RM6.40 while Public Bank was flat at RM4.18.
Among the actives, KNM Group eased half-a-sen to 25.5 sen, Kanger International slipped 1 sen to 4.5 sen, while Bintai Kinden increased 10.5 sen to 48 sen and Sapura Energy was flat at 12.5 sen. – Aug 30, 2021
