Bursa Malaysia ends higher in range bound trading

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended higher today in tandem with regional peers and in line with the firmer Wall Street but trading remained cautious and range-bound, dealers said.
At close, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.31 points higher at 1,772.39 after moving between 1,768.76 and 1,773.66 throughout the day.
It opened 1.79 points better at 1,772.87 from Monday's close of 1,771.08
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 523 to 329 with 366 counters unchanged, 632
untraded and 34 others were suspended.
Volume rose to 1.798 billion units, worth RM1.795 billion, from 1.52 billion units, valued at RM1.70 billion, recorded on Monday.
Most Asian stocks extended their gains from the previous session, taking the cue from a firmer Wall Street, and bargain hunting activities after last Friday's sell-off.
"Receding geopolitical tension between the US and North Korea also helped lift investors' appetite for riskier assets," he added.
Regionally, the Singapore Straits Times index fell 0.43 per cent to 3,294.94, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.28 per cent to 27,174.96, South Korea's Kospi gained 0.66 per cent to 2,334.22 and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.11 per cent to 19,753.31.
Among heavyweights, Tenaga and Sime Darby shed two sen each to RM14.20 and RM9.38, respectively, Petronas Chemicals bagged four sen to RM7.15 while Maybank, Public Bank and CIMB Group were flat at RM9.69, RM20.58 and RM6.78, respectively.
Of actives, MLabs Systems gained three sen to 20.5 sen, Anzo added 1.5 sen to 11 sen and Frontken improved one sen to 34.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was up 23.71 points at 12,569.32, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 35.80 points to 12,702.74 and the FBMT 100 Index improved 20.31 points to 12,236.04.
The FBM 70 jumped 67.32 points to 14,852.22 and the FBM Ace gained 29.37 points to 6,419.28.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index slipped 16.28 points to 16,711.05, the Industrial Index eased 4.25 points to 3,241.65 but the Plantation Index was 7.17 points higher at 7,802.52.
The Main Market volume increased to 995.98 million shares, worth RM1.62 billion, from 964.84 million shares, valued at RM1.58 billion, recorded on Monday.
Volume on the ACE Market improved to 458.57 million units, valued at RM136.09 million, versus Monday's 352.16 million units valued at RM97.87 million.
Warrants added to 336.37 million shares, worth RM42.78 million, from 203.90 million shares worth RM21.10 million, registered yesterday.
Consumer products accounted for 43.86 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (299.39 million), construction (88.34 million), trade and services (341.92 million), technology (39.30 million), infrastructure (3.91 million), SPAC (89,500), finance (44.88 million), hotels (2.63 million), properties (110.53 million), plantations (14.67 million), mining (5,000), REITs (6.45 million) and closed/fund (1,000).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM170.34 per gramme, down 71 sen from RM171.05 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama