Bursa Malaysia snaps three days of losses to end higher

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia snapped three days of losses to close higher today on renewed buying interest as the over-reaction to the national debt level eases, despite the mixed performance by regional peers, dealers said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed at 1,797.40, up 21.74 points from Thursday's close of 1,775.66.
The index opened 17.14 points higher at 1,792.82 and moved between 1,785.12 and 1,897.81 throughout the day.
Hermana Capital Bhd's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said investors heaved a sigh of relief at the over-reaction rally today after the market sank on concerns over the national debt level of about RM1 trillion.
"The statement from the Chinese investors recently saying that they are confident and looking forward to continue their businesses under the new government has also provided some support to the market and this would likely continue into next week," he told Bernama today.
On the regional front, another dealer said Asian markets were traded mixed in the early session today due to fresh concerns after the US President Donald Trump cancelled his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
Among heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM10.26, Public Bank jumped 56 sen to RM24.92, TNB rose 28 sen to RM15.04, CIMB gained seven sen to RM6.12 while Petronas Chemicals slipped two sen to RM8.32.
Among actives, NETX and Sapura energy earned half-a-sen each to three sen and 69.5 sen, respectively, YTL Power added 5.5 sen to 80.5 sen, while MyEG slipped three sen to 76.5 sen and Berjaya Corp eased half-a-sen to 30 sen.
Market breadth was positive with gainers trouncing losers 506 to 397, with 407 counters unchanged, 597 untraded and 26 others suspended.
Volume decreased to 2.20 billion units valued at RM2.95 billion from Thursday's 2.87 billion units valued at RM3.86 billion.
The FBM Emas Index increased 144.82 points to 12,540.78, the FBM Ace put on 37.54 points to 5,189.61 and the FBMT 100 Index went up 150.72 points to 12,348.68.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 140.35 points to 12,608.30 and the FBM 70 bagged 185.79 points to 14,840.62.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index surged 156.67 points to 17,879.56, the Industrial Index advanced 15.46 points to 3,213.41 while the Plantation Index rose 6.58 points to 7,844.11.
Main Market volume declined to 1.35 billion shares worth RM2.80 billion from Thursday's 1.80 billion shares worth RM3.69 billion.
Warrants volume shrank to 562.02 million units valued at RM116.83 million from 812.43 million units worth at RM127.46 million.
Volume on the ACE Market improved to 280.26 million shares worth RM34.72 million from 253.96 million shares worth RM46.95 million recorded yesterday.
Consumer products accounted for 63.30 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (181.22 million), construction (78.17 million), trade and services (665.37 million), technology (58.68 million), infrastructure (103.44 million), SPAC (993,200), finance (69.96 million), hotels (6.23 million), properties (77.63 million), plantations (34.51 million), mining (14,700), REITs (15.42 million) and closed/fund (nil). — Bernama