BURSA Malaysia had continued its upbeat momentum to finish higher today, supported by gains in selected heavyweights, led by Petronas Chemicals and KL Kepong.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.16 points or 0.22 per cent to 1,464.61 after opening 3.04 points better at 1,464.49.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 702 to 377, while 397 counters were unchanged, 665 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Total volume rose to 7.34 billion units worth RM3.36 bil from yesterday’s 6.45 billion units worth RM3.30 bil.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian rubber market continued to close mixed today, supported by a rebound in crude oil prices and weakening of the ringgit against the US dollar, a dealer said.
She said the local price movement was in tandem with regional rubber futures markets.
“However, traders remained on the sidelines awaiting the results of the US presidential election,” she said.
Yesterday, the oil prices increased after industry data showed crude inventories in the US dropped sharply, while analysts said uncertainty had crept into the market amid growing suspense over the result of the US presidential election.
“Crude stockpiles fell by eight million barrels last week to about 487 million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed on Tuesday,” she added.
As the time of writing, the benchmark Brent crude increased 0.45% to US$39.89 per barrel.
MRB’s reference physical price for SMR 20 increased five sen to 621.5 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk declined five sen to 738 sen per kg.
At 5pm, the MRB’s closing price for SMR 20 stood at 618 sen per kg, while latex-in-bulk was at 735 sen per kg. – Nov 4, 2020
