BURSA Malaysia finished higher on continued buying interest in selected heavyweights led by CIMB Group, Hartalega and Public Bank.
CIMB bagged 15 sen to RM5.30, Hartalega jumped 18 sen to RM6.20 and Public Bank rose three sen to RM4.23. Gains in these three counters lifted the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) by a total of 4.853 points.
At 5pm, the benchmark index was 7.69 points firmer at 1,605.97.
The FBM KLCI, which opened 4.61 points higher at 1,602.89, fluctuated between 1,602.71 and 1,609.62 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 573 to 495, while 450 counters were unchanged, 771 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover fell to 4.61 billion units worth RM2.91 bil from 4.96 billion units worth RM3 bil last Friday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said overall, the market would be good in the short to medium term due to positive investor sentiment.
“We are positive on the oil and gas sector given the high oil prices as well as gaming stocks.
“Although there may be some profit taking, we still think buying momentum is strong,” he told Bernama.
Hence, he said, the FBM KLCI was expected to hover between 1,600 and 1,615 for the week.
At the time of writing, global benchmark Brent crude stood at US$85.33 per barrel, up 0.55%.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank was three sen higher at RM8.31 while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.75 and IHH Healthcare eased six sen to RM6.66.
Among the actives, Macpie added 2.5 sen to 13 sen, Joe Holding was flat at 4.5 sen, and Tiger Synergy gained half-a-sen to 4.5 sen.
Top gainers were Aeon Credit which increased 48 sen to RM13.58, Genetec Technology which rose 38 sen to RM45.38, and Keck Seng which climbed 36 sen to RM3.85. – Oct 18, 2021
