BURSA Malaysia extended last week’s gains to open higher today, with the composite index rising 1.19% on the back of positive market sentiment following a strong performance on the Wall Street last week.
At 9.15am, key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) jumped 16.80 points to 1,424.14 from 1,407.34 at Friday’s close.
The key index opened 4.35 points firmer at 1,411.69.
Market breadth was bullish with gainers trouncing losers 466 to only 85, while 215 counters were unchanged, 1,146 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 604.98 million shares worth RM238.43 mil.
Rakuten Trade said the Wall Street was higher last Friday on hopes of an early opening of the US economy as mooted by the Presiden Donald Trump.
“However, judging from the Covid-19 figures in the US where total cases are closing in at 800,000 with deaths surpassing 40,000, we believe Trump’s wish is only wishful thinking and is playing a highly dangerous game.
“Nonetheless, we reckon after a rather strong performance last week, regional markets may look to take a breather today,” it said in a research note today.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities said after more than 5.0% gain over the past two weeks, the key index’s performance has already exceeded all expectations amid the selected institutional support which it opined is overdone, considering the still-fragile economic prospects.
“Hence, we think consolidation is due over the near term with the key index potentially pulling back to the 1,400 level. For now, the resistances are at the 1,420-1,455 levels. Should the 1,400 level fails to hold, the 1,370 level will serve as the next support,” it said in a separate note.
Among heavyweights, Maybank bagged four sen to RM7.74, Tenaga chalked up 10 sen to RM12.80, Public Bank advanced 12 sen to RM16.16, Petronas Chemicals edged up 24 sen to RM5.89 and IHH Healthcare added five sen to RM5.27.
Of the actives, Vortex Consolidated was flat at 8.5 sen, AirAsia X went up 1.5% to 9.5 sen, MCT rose 2.5 sen to 20 while AirAsia Group improved seven sen to 85.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 126.29 points higher at 9,901.23, the FBM Emas Shariah Index chalked up 118.99 points to 10,956.51, while the FBMT 100 Index increased 122.47 points to 9,779.22.
The FBM 70 garnered 176.38 points to 11,739.96 and the FBM Ace earned 35.64 points to 4,538.53.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 2.88 points to 121.90, the Financial Services Index climbed 167.50 points to 12,814.46 while the Plantation Index appreciated 65.37 points to 6,401.48. – April 20, 2020, Bernama
