Banks, consumer stocks lift Bursa Malaysia firmer

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed on a firm note today, spurred by persistent buying momentum in selected bluechips, as well as banking and consumer-related stocks.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) finished 2.94 points higher at 1,733.93 compared to last Friday's close of 1,730.99.
The key index, which opened 0.14 of-a-point better at 1,731.13, hovered between 1,729.13 and 1,736.29 throughout the day.
Maybank and CIMB were the two largest contributors to the rise in the composite index with a combined total of 2.26 points.
Among banking stocks, Maybank and CIMB rose seven sen each to RM9.02 and RM5.45 respectively, RHB Bank perked four sen to RM5.10, AMMB gained three sen to RM4.88, and Public Bank added two sen to RM19.92.
As for consumer stocks, Dutch Lady, which also the day's biggest gainer, soared 52 sen to RM57.18, Nestle edged up 42 sen to RM80.76, Ajinomoto chalked up 36 sen to RM17.50, BAT improved 20 sen to RM47.00, while Fraser & Neave gained 18 sen to RM24.08.
A dealer said investors accumulated selected attractive stocks amid a defensive stance on the back of mixed sentiment on the global market.
He said bargain hunting for consumers and selected blue chips, which are now cheaper to buy given the recent sell-off due to the geopolitical tension in Syria, also emerged today to support the performance and bucked the trend on some regional markets' trend.
On other regional bourses, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index trimmed 0.21% to 24,261.66, Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.98% to 3,138.30 and Jakarta's Composite Index declined 0.7% to 5,577.49.
However, Japan's Nikkei 225 increased 0.11% to 18,355.26 and Korea's KOSPI Index rose 0.51% to 2,145.76.
Etiqa Insurance and Takaful, Head of Research Chris Eng told Bernama, demand on the local bourse was also partly influenced by the better-than-expected economic data from China, which helped ease worries over the health of the world's second largest economy.
Overall market breadth was positive with gainers thumping losers 456 to 397, while 381 counters were unchanged, 509 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Volume declined to 2.89 billion units valued at RM1.78 billion, from last Friday's 3.15 billion units worth RM1.86 billion
The FBM Emas Index rose 26.47 points to 12,334.6, the FBMT100 Index improved 24.43 points to 11,972.55 and the FBM 70 chalked up 45.27 points to 14,540.56.
The FBM Ace advanced 48.39 points to 6,050.01 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index increased 22.6 points to 12,782.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index surged 86.61 points to 15,651.32, the Plantation Index perked 12.12 points to 7,926.15 and the Industrial Index inched up 0.59 of a point to 3,237.75.
Of the heavyweights, Sime Darby and Maxis added one sen each to RM9.28 and RM6.43 respectively, but Petronas Chemicals slipped one sen to RM7.59. Tenaga, however, was flat at RM13.70.
Among actives, Key Alliance gained one sen to 8.5 sen, but Borneo Oil was flat at 19 sen.
Bursa Malaysia Securities has issued an Unusual Market Activity query to Anzo Holdings Bhd due to the sharp fall in the company's share price and rise in volume recently.
Anzo was last traded at 36 sen with 127.64 million shares changing hands.
Main Market turnover declined to 2.09 billion units valued at RM1.67 billion from last Friday's 2.19 billion units worth RM1.71 billion.
Volume on the ACE Market contracted to 660.85 million shares valued at RM95.73 million from 777.62 million shares worth RM127.05 million.
Warrants declined to 106.3 million units valued at RM11.57 million from 165.75 million units worth RM17.39 million.
Consumer products accounted for 109.27 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (501.08 million), construction (138.06 million), trade and services (692.28 million), technology (103.2 million), infrastructure (3.18 million), SPAC (4.0 million), finance (56.67 million), hotels (4.26 million), properties (423.43 million), plantations (51.27 million), mining (nil), REITs (6.09 million) and closed/fund (64,000).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM176.58 per gramme, up 31 sen from RM176.27 at 5pm last Friday. — Bernama