KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the first trading day of the decade on a firm footing by breaching 1,600 points in line with most of its regional peers, revelling in the afterglow of the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) reserve requirement ratio (RRR) cut.
AxiTrader chief Asia market strategist Stephen Innes said the positive performance in the regional markets, including Bursa Malaysia, was also buoyed by developments in the Sino-US trade dispute, after US President Donald Trump tweeted that he would sign the Phase One deal with China on Jan 15.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rebounded 13.74 points, or 0.87% to close at 1,602.50 from Tuesday’s close of 1,588.76.
The market was closed on Wednesday for the new year celebration.
After opening at 1,590.98, the key index hovered between 1,590.98 and 1,603.72 throughout the day.
Innes said the PBOC’s RRR cut and the pending signing of the Phase One trade deal were viewed in a positive light, both for China and regional growth.
“The knock-on effect on the FBM KLCI is directly attributable to the positive economic impulse that the Chinese economy will get from lower interest rates, which should boost Malaysia’s bilateral trade flow with China,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of research Vincent Lau said bargain-hunting emerged across the board today, particularly in small-cap and penny stocks, after the local market closed at the intra-day low of 1,588.76 on Dec 31.
“We noticed that shares were overwhelmingly traded today, with the volume touching 3.35 billion compared with 2.25 billion recorded on new year’s eve. This might also signal that the Chinese New Year rally has begun,” he said.
The first day of the Chinese New Year falls on Jan 25, about three weeks away.
At the closing bell, market breadth continued to stay positive, with gainers nearly doubling losers 614 to 308, while 368 counters were unchanged, 655 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Volume widened to 3.35 billion shares worth RM1.85 bil compared with 2.25 billion shares worth RM1.75 bil on Tuesday.
Among heavyweights, Public Bank, which is also the top gainer, bagged 46 sen to RM19.90, Maybank rose 11 sen to RM8.75, IHH increased 10 sen to RM5.57, Petronas Gas added 34 sen to RM16.96 and Maxis was seven sen better at RM5.39.
The actives included Vivocom and its warrant, which ticked up half-a-sen each to two sen and one sen, respectively, Sapura Energy and Bumi Armada gained half-a-sen each to 27.5 sen and 53.5 sen, respectively, while JCY went up 3.5 sen to 35 sen.
The FBM Emas Index strengthened 89.16 points to 11,412.65 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 68.66 points higher at 12,016.58.
The FBMT 100 Index rose 85.56 points to 11,200.11, the FBM 70 accumulated 66.18 points to 14,272.99 and the FBM Ace was 155.42 points stronger at 5,382.01.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 1.83 points to 155.23, the Financial Services Index garnered 156.29 points to 15,620.46 and the Plantation Index firmed 45.70 points to 7,779.07.
Main Market volume rose to 2.26 million shares worth RM1.59 bil versus 1.74 billion shares worth RM1.61 bil on Tuesday.
Warrants turnover increased to 215.91 million units valued at RM42.03 mil against 194.59 million units valued at RM32.35 mil previously.
Volume on the ACE Market surged to 869.49 million shares valued at RM216.20 mil, compared with 312.67 million shares worth RM103.12 mil previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 258.23 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (587.20 million), construction (188.54 million), technology (248.83 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (43.15 million), property (168.06 million), plantations (153.66 million), REITs (4.64 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (434.85 million), healthcare (15.65 million), telecommunications and media (41.89 million), transportation and logistics (36.86 million) and utilities (86.71 million). – Jan 2, 2020 Bernama
