KL shares end marginally higher

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed marginally higher today amid positive regional sentiment and a stronger ringgit versus the US dollar.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) finished 0.13 of-a-point better at 1,771.36 from yesterday's close of 1,771.23 after fluctuating between 1,770.53 and 1,775.85 throughout the day.
The key index opened 0.95 of-a-point better at 1,772.18 this morning.
The losses in Hong Leong Bank dragged the index down by 1.108 points. The stock fell 30 sen to close at RM15.70 with 3.02 million shares traded.
Gainers thumped losers 502 to 314, with 386 counters unchanged, 610 untraded and 59 others suspended.
Volume improved slightly to 1.396 billion units worth RM1.56 billion from 1.395 billion units valued at RM1.85 billion on Wednesday.
Regional bourses rallied today following a rebound on the Wall Street overnight. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.45 per cent to 20,220.30, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.1 per cent to 25,965.42 and Singapore's Straits Times Index surged 1.3 per cent to 3,257.62.
Against the US dollar, the ringgit was traded at 4.2940/2970 as at 5 pm today compared with 4.2960/2990 at 6 pm yesterday. The local unit has reportedly become the strongest major Asian currency by far this quarter.
Among heavyweights, Public Bank rose four sen to RM20.30, Petronas Chemicals gained two sen to RM7.12, while both Maybank and Tenaga were flat at RM9.63 and RM14.14 respectively.
However, Sime Darby and CIMB fell four sen each to RM9.57 and RM6.64 respectively.
Of the actives, Key Alliance and Asia Bioenergy inched up half-a-sen each to 4.5 sen and 16 sen respectively, while Sapura Energy gained five sen to RM1.62.
The FBM Emas Index rose by 13.64 points to 12,631.92, FBMT 100 Index gained 9.17 points to 12,267.88, FBM Emas Syariah Index advanced 29.11 points to 12,849.99, FBM 70 chalked up 42.53 points to 15,038.23 and FBM Ace jumped 109.06 points to 6,530.35.
On a sectoral basis, the Plantation Index improved 33.32 points to 7,933.22 and the Industrial Index perked 5.32 points to 3,270.23. The Finance Index, however, declined 27.33 points to 16,800.25.
The Main Market turnover decreased to 910.03 million units worth RM1.45 billion from 936.64 million units worth RM1.77billion on Wednesday.
Warrants fell to 110.77 million units valued at RM12.21 million from 168.11 million units valued at RM21.19 million previously.
Volume on the ACE Market, however, surged to 370.92 million shares worth RM88.36 million from 278.26 million shares worth RM54.63 million yesterday.
Consumer products accounted for 69.77 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (275.14 million), construction (86.82 million), trade and services (273.94 million), technology (40.49 million), infrastructure (7.81 million), SPAC (914,000), finance (42.62 million), hotels (586,300), properties (89.67 million), plantations (11.7 million), mining (6,000), REITs (10.55 million) and closed/fund (6,600).
In a statement today, the ACE Market-listed company, PUC Founder (MSC) Bhd, said its name has been changed to PUC Bhd to reflect the group's new corporate identity and brand image as a digital lifestyle technology services provider.
The stock closed half-a-sen easier to 14 sen with 2.01 million shares traded.
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM166.49 per gramme, down RM1.01 from RM167.50 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama