Finance stocks lift kl shares to end 10 pts higher
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia, which started trading on an easier note, finished higher today, driven by gains in most blue chip finance stocks led by CIMB Group.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended at 1,729.57, up 10.10 points, from yesterday's close of 1,719.47.
After opening 0.71 of-a-point lower at 1,718.76 and hitting an intraday low of 1,717.32, the index moved in a 12.25-point range, before ending at an intraday high.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 500 to 373, with 363 counters unchanged, 622 counters untraded and 38 others suspended.
Total volume soared to 2.15 billion shares worth RM2.33 billion from Monday's 1.65 billion shares worth RM1.97 billion.
A dealer said the local equity market is poised to trade higher, in tandem with the bullish Wall Street.
"With the Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA) projected to approach 25,000 by year-end, the improved risk appetite could spillover to this region. This was also reflected in today's large buying by foreign investors in finance stocks on Bursa Malaysia," he added.
International investors reportedly bought RM337.7 million net Malaysian equities last week, the first time it had crossed the RM300 million mark in 12 weeks.
Buying interest in CIMB Group which emerged after mid-afternoon today, kept the key index supported by +3.775 points. As the leading mover on the FBM KLCI components, CIMB Group chalked up 23 sen to RM6.18, with 5.91 million shares changing hands.
Other leading movers in the composite index component stocks were Public Bank which gained 18 sen to RM20.20, Hong Leong Financial Group edging up 24 sen to RM16.60, while Digi.com bagged 15 sen to RM4.84. Top weighted Maybank was flat at RM9.25.
Meanwhile, Astro Malaysia led the FBM KLCI laggards with its seven sen decline to RM2.60.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index rose 69.05 points to 12,425.45, the FBMT100 Index advanced 67.09 points to 12,092.96 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index increased 33.19 points to 12,853.59.
The FBM 70 jumped 72.25 points to 15,255.38 and the FBM Ace improved 98.17 points to 6,354.15.
On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index surged 174.50 points to 16,183.00, the Industrial Index went up 4.21 points to 3,141.77 and the Plantation Index climbed 8.11 points to 7,843.57.
Among actives, PUC gained 2.5 sen to 25.5 sen, Sapura Energy retraced 3.5 sen to 81.5 sen, Green Packet rose one sen to 51.5 sen and DNEX added 3.5 sen to 45.5 sen.
Main Market volume jumped to 1.34 billion units, worth RM2.19 billion, from 1.04 billion units, worth RM1.86 billion, recorded on Monday.
Volume on the ACE Market rose to 659.26 million shares, valued at RM124.21 million, from 419.15 million shares, valued at RM81.46 million.
Warrants volume declined to 138.67 million units worth RM18.16 million from 181.10 million units worth RM24.18 million, recorded on Monday.
Consumer products accounted for 50.78 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (239.66 million), construction (47.96 million), trade and services (620.02 million), technology (180.30 million), infrastructure (5.99 million), SPAC (6.94 million), finance (53.77 million), hotels (1.97 million), properties (97.18 million), plantations (34.08 million), mining (100), REITs (5.49 million), and closed/fund (0).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM157.63 per gramme, down 83 sen from RM158.46 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama