BURSA Malaysia extended earlier gains to finish higher on Tuesday, supported by persistent buying in selected blue-chip counters.
At the close, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) expanded 9.51 points to 1,587.96 from Friday’s close of 1,578.45.
Following a three-day weekend, the index opened 2.99 points higher at 1,581.44 today and moved between 1,577.18 and 1,591.55 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers edging past losers 580 to 566, while 391 counters were unchanged, 603 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover fell to 6.71 billion shares worth RM4.11 bil from 7.21 billion units worth RM3.57 bil last Friday.
Bursa Malaysia Bhd and its subsidiaries were closed yesterday in conjunction with the official birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
Meanwhile, the regional markets were lower, with Japan’s Nikkei declining 0.19% to 28,963.56, Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropping 0.27% to 3,167.14, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipping 0.02% to 28,781.38.
An analyst said Bursa Malaysia’s steady performance was supported by better market sentiment following a decline in the number of daily COVID-19 cases and growing optimism over the vaccination programme.
The Health Ministry said Malaysia recorded 5,566 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday (June 8).
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the FBM KLCI closed 0.6% higher today fuelled by the rally in the banking sector.
He noted that banking stocks such as RHB Bank Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd all closed higher by at least 1.0% today.
“The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Malaysia is starting to show a decline from around 8,000 cases last week.
“Moreover, more vaccination centres are commencing operations in the Klang Valley this week, which should boost the vaccination rates in Malaysia,” he told Bernama.
He said with vaccination rates being higher, the journey towards herd immunity would be faster, enabling more businesses to operate on a larger scale and contribute to economic growth.
“Therefore, investors might have been on this thematic play today and viewed the banking sector as a proxy to economic growth,” he added.
Healthcare counters continued their downtrend amid the declining demand outlook as global economies recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, with Top Glove Corporation Bhd falling 12 sen to RM4,78, Hartalega Holdings Bhd losing 11 sen to RM8.46 and Supermax Corporation Bhd dropping 10 sen to RM3.82.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) rose three sen to RM8.20, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd decreased two sen to RM8.06, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) gained two sen to RM9.95 and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd was flat at RM5.21.
Bursa Malaysia’s top active stock, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, declined another 14.5 sen to 62 sen on investor concerns over issues raised by its auditors. – June 8, 2021
