Bursa Malaysia ends higher, tracking gains on Wall Street

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher today on persistent buying momentum in tandem with the overnight gains on US Wall Street, a dealer said.
At close, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.60 points to 1,774.22 after moving between 1,771.39 and 1,775.80.
It opened 0.15 of-a-point easier at 1,771.47 from Monday's close of 1,771.62.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing losers 419 to 385, with 395 counters unchanged, 641 untraded and 32 others suspended.
Volume rose to 1.77 billion units worth RM1.89 billion from 1.68 billion units worth RM1.78 billion.
A dealer said Bursa Malaysia, in line with most of its Asian peers, traded on an uptrend since early this morning as investors looked ahead to the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming, United States.
"The meeting is scheduled for this Friday. Market participants will keep a close watch on this event, which they hope would provide clues on major policy changes which could have ripple effects on the global economy, while simultaneously staying cautious on the geopolitical uncertainties," the dealer said.
Regionally, Japan's Nikkei fell 9.29 points to 19,383.84, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 246.99 points to 27,401.67 and Singapore Straits Times Index was 18.57 points better at 3,265.56.
Among heavyweights, Maybank was up one sen to RM9.61, Tenaga gained two sen to RM14.24, Sime Darby improved five sen to RM9.31 while Public Bank was flat at RM20.58.
Of actives, Mlabs Systems and AirAsia X rose two sen each to 24 sen and 38.5 sen, respectively, Dagang Nexchange gained 2.5 sen to 52.5 sen but Mtouche fell 1.5 sen to 21.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index edged up 24.27 points to 12,619. 56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 27.40 points to 12,776.87 and the FBMT 100 Index improved 24.45 points to 12,276.95.
The FBM 70 rose 54.16 points to 15,008.57 but the FBM Ace fell 9.51 points to 6,547.37.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Index added eight points to 3,228.65, the Plantation Index inched up 0.45 of-a-point to 7,805.44, and the Finance Index gained 10.85 points to 16,750.68.
Main Market volume rose to 1.02 billion shares worth RM1.73 billion from one billion shares worth RM1.61 billion on Monday.
Volume on the ACE Market fell to 420.76 million units valued at RM116.29 million from 468.33 million units valued at RM127.44 million.
Warrants increased to 319.19 million shares worth RM42 million versus 196.41 million shares worth RM31.92 million.
Consumer products accounted for 71.67 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (188.28 million), construction (90.45 million), trade and services (432.46 million), technology (31.67 million), infrastructure (6.3 million), SPAC (2.36 million), finance (72.62 million), hotels (3.3 million), properties (92.72 million), plantations (24.52 million), mining (531,800), REITs (7.9 million), and closed/fund (192,900).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM171.03 per gramme, down 63 sen from RM171.66 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama