KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia today traced back its losses from yesterday’s sharp decline following the de-escalation of geopolitical tensions between Washington and Tehran.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 8.11 points higher at 1,597.21 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,589.10.
On the scoreboard, gainers surpassed losers 278 to 68, while 153 counters remained unchanged, 1,349 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 194.15 million shares worth RM82.73 mil.
An analyst said that as tension subsides between the two parties, and the US did not retaliate to yesterday’s attack on its bases in Iraq, global fears over economic uncertainty in the oil-rich region have subsided.
“As of now, oil prices will take a retreat and global indexes will be on an upward momentum, which will be a positive move for the local index as well,” she said.
US President Donald Trump in an address earlier today said that Iran appears to be on a stand down and no American soldiers were harmed in the missile attack yesterday.
“Iran appears to be standing down,” he said, while announcing the US will continue to impose more stringent economic sanctions on the Islamic republic.
Before ending his address, he called upon the Iranian government to work together with the US in embracing peace for the country’s future prosperity and harmony.
Of the top 30 counters, financial counters took the lead as Maybank enlarged seven sen to RM8.61, Public Bank added 22 sen to RM19.82, while CIMB upticked five sen to RM5.22, Tenaga Nasional rose 10 sen to RM13.08 and Axiata went up three sen to RM4.24.
As for top gainers, Malaysian Pacific grew 38 sen to RM12, Kuala Lumpur Kepong widened 36 sen to RM24.86, while UMW advanced 21 sen to RM4.63.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went up 50.85 points to 11,328.98 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 39.30 points higher at 11,989.56.
The FBMT 100 Index weakened 52.86 points to 11,160.66, the FBM 70 added 51.72 points to 14,212.52 while the FBM Ace gained 34.19 points to 5,414.84.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased slightly by 0.20 point to 154.77, while the Financial Services Index rose 126.02 points to 15,345.28 and the Plantation Index expanded 50.57 points to 7,691.23. – Jan 9, 2020, Bernama
