Bursa M'sia ends higher

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher today, boosted by gains in selected heavyweights and in line with the continued upward momentum on regional peers, dealers said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed at 1,779.10, up 17.34 points from yesterday's close of 1,771.76, after opening 0.19 of-a-point higher at 1,771.95 .
Over the course of the day, the key index moved in the range of between 1,769.60 and 1,771.95.
Market breadth was positive with 467 gainers against 444 losers, while 392 counters were unchanged, 551 untraded and 63 others suspended.
Total volume rose to 2.64 billion shares worth RM2.10 billion from 2.31 billion shares valued at RM1.99 billion on Wednesday.
A dealer said Asian markets closed mostly higher on Thursday following a rally in oil and copper prices this week, amid thin trade ahead of the New Year's weekend.
Oil prices, which reached a two-and-a-half year high due to an attack on a Libyan pipeline, were slightly firmer after taking a breather on Wednesday, while the rally in copper prices continued with metal trading near a four-year-high.
The Singapore's Straits Times index rose 0.29% to 3,401.56 points, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.90% to 29,863.71 points, while South Korea's Kospi increased 1.26% to 2,467.49 points.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM9.56, TNB surged 30 sen to RM15.42, Public Bank jumped 12 sen to RM28.82, while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM7.80.
Of the actives, NETX earned half-a-sen to 4.5 sen, PUC advanced three sen to 35 sen, Sino Hua-An bagged seven sen to 38.5, while Sapura energy declined two sen to 71 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was up 47.31 points to 12,791.41, the FBMT 100 Index increased 49.22 points to 12,460.30 and the FBM Ace jumped 29.59 points to 6,582.02.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 39.14 points to 13,155.85 and the FBM 70 bagged 55.08 points to 15,789.85.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index secured 61.67 points to 16,716.14 and the Industrial Index improved 3.23 points to 3,259.42.But, the Plantation Index shed 38.34 points to 7,869.11.
Main Market volume slipped to 1.30 billion units worth RM1.81 billion compared with 1.44 billion units valued at RM1.81 billion on Wednesday.
Volume on the ACE Market rose to 1.05 billion shares worth RM219.81 million from 619.38 million shares valued at RM125.81 million.
Warrants volume increased to 274.72 million units worth RM67.10 million from 244.34 million units valued at RM48.31 million.
Consumer products accounted for 79.59 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (474.48 million), construction (59.50 million), trade and services (464.50 million), technology (79.17 million), infrastructure (2.42 million), SPAC (2.51 million), finance (45.95 million), hotels (639,400), properties (67.25 million), plantations (11.86 million), mining (2,000), REITs (4.69 million) and closed/fund (104,700).
The physical price of gold as at 5.00pm stood at RM163.48/g, up 21 sen from RM163.27 at 5.00pm yesterday. — Bernama