KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia returned to positive territory on Dec 11 after recording two straight days of losses.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 1.40 points to 1,563.19 compared with Dec 10’s close of 1,561.79.
The index opened 3.03 points weaker at 1,558.76 and moved between a low of 1,558.76 and a high of 1,568.03 throughout the day.
An analyst said the mild but continuous support helped lift the market to end higher.
“The market enjoyed a slight rebound as some investors went bargain-hunting, but worries over the US-China trade war escalation kept them on a cautious mode,” he said.
He noted that a report saying US and Chinese trade negotiators are laying the groundwork for a delay of a fresh round of tariffs due to take effect this Sunday has spurred hope for a trade deal.
“However, there is still no clarity on what Washington’s decision will be,” he added.
The US is due to impose new tariff hikes on US$160 bil (RM666.34 bil) worth of Chinese goods if the two sides fail to reach an accord before Dec 15.
“In addition, all eyes are on the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy final meeting for 2019 outcome that is to be released later today, although the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged,” the analyst said.
Among heavyweights, IHH rose 15 sen to RM5.40, Press Metal added 11 sen to RM4.71, Petronas Dagangan improved 80 sen to RM23.30, and CIMB went up six sen to RM5.17.
Of the actives, Eco World rose 10 sen to 74.5 sen, AT Systematization was flat at 5.0 sen and WCE edged up three sen to 33.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index increased 13.27 points to 11,124.00 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index put on 8.21 points to 11,713.31, while the FBMT 100 Index rose 11.83 points to 10,923.25.
The FBM Ace went up 5.17 points to 4,925.20 and the FBM 70 added 23.51 points to 13,911.22.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 26.81 points to 15,212.31, the Industrial Products and Services Index improved 0.47 of-a-point to 150.07, and the Plantation Index increased 20.75 points to 7,486.58.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 421 to 379, with 382 counters unchanged, 790 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Volume, however, declined to 2.37 billion units valued at RM1.71 bil from 2.66 billion units worth RM1.5 bil on Dec 10.
Main Market volume dropped to 1.67 billion shares worth RM1.55 bil from 1.93 billion shares worth RM1.36 bil.
Warrants turnover went up to 315.4 million units valued at RM55.52 mil from 243.6 million units valued at RM40.05 mil on Dec 10.
Volume on the ACE Market contracted to 384.9 million shares worth RM100.84 milfrom 487.27 million shares worth RM104.84 mil.
Consumer products and services accounted for 232.72 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (209.40 million), construction (155.94 million), technology (88.57 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (80.61 million), property (231.17 million), plantations (149.21 million), REITs (11.59 million), closed/fund (11,700), energy (414.43 million), healthcare (15,63 million), telecommunications and media (42.79 million), transportation and logistics (20.10 million), and utilities (18.53 million). – Bernama
