Bursa Malaysia closes higher
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher today supported by gains in CIMB Group, Petronas Chemicals and Genting-related counters, in line with most Asian peers following positive leads from the US and Europe, dealers said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended higher at 1,771.01, up 3.84 points from Tuesday's close of 1,767.17.
After opening 3.29 points higher at 1,770.46, the index moved between 1,767.22 and 1,776.24 throughout the day.
Market breadth was negative as losers outpaced gainers 547 to 419, with 355 counters unchanged, 449 untraded and 31 others suspended.
Volume increased to 3.38 billion units, valued at RM2.90 billion, from the 2.91 billion units, valued at RM2.80 billion, traded on Tuesday.
A dealer said despite the bourse's upward trend, the broader market was weaker amid lack of catalysts and key momentum indicators.
Most Asian markets rose today, tracking the positive leads from the US and Europe, including Shanghai and Hong Kong markets which recovered from early selling prompted by Moody's decision to cut China's credit, he said.
For heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM9.36, TNB gained two sen to RM13.82, Petronas Chemicals gained eight sen to RM7.43, Public Bank shed six sen to RM20.08 and Sime Darby was flat at RM9.32.
Of actives, AirAsia X lost 8.5 sen to 45 sen, Luster Industries and Asia Bioenergy eased half-a sen each to 14.5 sen and six sen, respectively, Borneo Oil added half-a- sen to 12.5 sen, while Key Alliance was flat at 4.5 sen.
Among other index-linked gainers, CIMB Group rose 14 sen to RM6.13, Genting Bhd gained 15 sen to RM9.92 and RHB Bank added 10 sen to RM5.39.
The FBM Emas Index was 8.20 points higher at 12,674.56 and the FBMT 100 Index gained 9.20 points to 12,295.76.
The FBM Ace slipped 37.77 points to 6,555.72, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 1.40 points to 12,989.33 and the FBM 70 dropped 54.17 points to 15,185.99.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was up 6.99 points at 8,053.83, the Finance Index rose 45.06 points to 16,368.84 and the Industrial Index added 1.32 points to 3,272.76.
Main Market turnover increased to 2.30 billion units worth RM2.75 billion, from 1.96 billion units worth RM2.63 billion, registered on Tuesday.
Volume on the ACE Market improved to 652.11 million units worth RM89.03 million, from 634.58 million units valued at RM128.41 million previously.
Warrants rose to 419.87 million units valued at RM50.37 million, from yesterday's 320.04 million units worth RM43.15 million.
Consumer products accounted for 128.37 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (475.09 million), construction (123.25 million), trade and services (1.11 billion), technology (102.51 million), infrastructure (6.64 million), SPAC (1.56 million), finance (81.53 million), hotels (2.59 million), properties (238.32 million), plantations (22.50 million), mining (49,000), REITs (6.52 million), and closed/fund (nil).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM167.09 per gramme, down RM1.18 from RM168.27 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama