KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended higher today on persistent buying in index-linked counters due to bargain-hunting, as market sentiment was lifted by strong overnight gains on Wall Street.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 8.68 points to 1,551.48 from Monday’s close of 1,542.80.
After opening 2.09 points firmer at 1,544.89 this morning, the local index moved between 1,543.23 and 1,554.67 throughout the day.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 462 to 372, with 367 counters unchanged, 782 untraded and 36 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 2.76 billion shares worth RM2.25 bil from 2.41 billion shares worth RM1.91 bil yesterday.
A dealer said the FBM KLCI performed better today after both the Nasdaq Composite Index and S&P 500 closed at record highs on Monday.
“The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 174.31 points to end at 29,276.82, a gain of 0.6%. The S&P 500 index advanced 24.38 points, or 0.7%, ending at 3,352.09 while the Nasdaq Composite added 107.88 points, or 1.1%, to finish at 9,628.39.
“Some traders on the local market also decided to take advantage of the current low prices to accumulate quality stocks, following yesterday’s losses,” he added.
On the regional front, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.26% to 27,583.88, Singapore’s Straits Times Index was 0.43% higher at 3,176.82 and the Jakarta Composite Index ticked up 0.04% to 5,954.40.
Among heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank added six sen to RM8.54, Tenaga rose 14 sen to RM12.64, Public Bank gained two sen to RM18.30 and Petronas Chemicals surged 27 sen to RM6.66.
Of the actives, MYEG soared 17 sen to RM1.33, Securemetric eased two sen to 18.5 sen and DGB Asia was half-a-sen lower at eight sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index perked up 13.77 points to 11,038.29, the FBMT 100 Index rose 55.89 points to 10,838.34 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 70.10 points to 11,752.94.
The FBM 70 gained 51.50 points to 13,790.43 and the FBM Ace climbed 26.02 points to 5,544.91.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 2.41 points to 146.71, the Plantation Index was up 25.78 points to 7,321.41 and the Financial Services Index was 41.19 points higher at 14,913.03
Main Market volume expanded to 1.70 billion shares valued at RM1.97 bil from 1.40 billion shares valued at RM1.63 bil on Monday.
Warrants turnover increased to 385.75 million units worth RM55.03 mil from 357.31 million units worth RM55.34 mil.
Volume on the ACE Market rose to 676.04 million shares valued at RM229.88 mil from 653.88 million shares valued at RM226.63 mil previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 224.30 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (304.07 million), construction (90.98 million), technology (464.29 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (42.34 million), property (95.56 million), plantations (56.60 million), REITs (13.83 million), closed/fund (139,200), energy (241.55 million), healthcare (46.87 million), telecommunications and media (38.77 million), transportation and logistics (65.08 million), and utilities (21.11 million). – Feb 11, 2020, Bernama
