Bursa Malaysia closes higher on consistent buying

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher today on consistent buying in local counters, namely construction, technology and finance, a dealer said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 8.06 points to close at 1,745.20 from Thursday's close of 1,737.14.
The index opened 5.24 points higher at 1,742.38 and moved between 1,739.65 and 1,752.10 throughout the day.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 590 to 369, with 359 counters unchanged, 404 untraded and 27 others suspended.
Volume rose to 4.98 billion units worth RM5.04 billion from 3.41 billion units valued at RM3.62 billion.
Maybank Investment Bank remiser Jeffry Azizi said the volume and value recorded today was an all-time high for Bursa Malaysia, driven mainly by the recent 25 points interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.
"The new rate hike, the second time since December 2016, has shown that the US economy is improving and foreign investors are confident over buying more assets in emerging countries, including in Malaysia.
"Since January this year, we have seen more than RM2 billion in funds flow into the country," he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, another dealer said higher oil prices had also provided support to the local bourse.
"Prices edged upward following a report that the US inventory had declined," he added.
Brent Crude rose seven cents or 0.14% to US$51.81 per barrel from US$51.74.
Among heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank rose five sen to RM8.90, Public Bank jumped 30 sen to RM20.18, Sime Darby inched up four sen to RM9.34 but, while Tenaga was flat at RM13.72.
Of the actives, Ho Wah Genting added one sen to seven sen, Dataprep rose 16.5 sen to 43.5 sen, Luster Industries gained one sen to 11.5 sen, but Borneo Oil was half-a-sen lower at 18 sen.
The FBM Emas Index increased 64.10 points to 12,341.34, the FBMT100 Index surged 64.88 points to 11,996.30 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 53.07 points to 12,727.23.
The FBM 70 was 113.69 points higher at 14,365.84 and the FBM Ace gained 22.11 points to 5,531.16.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index perked 133.49 points to 15,739.99, the Plantation Index inched up 10.06 points to 8,161.61 and the Industrial Index was 9.28 points lower at 3,263.81.
Main Market turnover rose to 3.96 billion units worth RM4.9 billion from 3.41 billion units worth RM3.62 billion yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market increased to 766.51 million shares valued at RM101.76 million versus 746.92 million shares valued at RM135.56 million.
Warrants advanced to 235.99 million units worth RM29.97 million against 204.48 million units worth RM22.63 million.
Consumer products accounted for 298.05 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (972.43 million), construction (328.47 million), trade and services (951.85 million), technology (401.42 million), infrastructure (28.20 million), SPAC (1.06 million), finance (221.36 million), hotels (9.31 million), properties (280.69 million), plantations (47.56 million), mining (20,000), REITs (80.87 million), and closed/fund (54,500).
The physical price of gold as of 5pm stood at RM169.49 per gramme, up 60 sen from RM168.89 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama