KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the day higher, in line with regional stocks, as market sentiment was lifted by hopes that trade talks between China and the United States could reach an agreement before the March 1 deadline.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI), which remained in the positive territory the whole day, finished 3.91 points better at 1,692.74 from Friday’s close of 1,688.83.
After opening 5.09 points firmer at 1,693.92 earlier today, the local index moved between 1,690.19 and 1,695.61 throughout the day.
A dealer said buying interest was generally positive in the region as investors kept faith that Beijing and Washington would still manage to avert an escalation in the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
He said Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.89% to 3,268.43, Jakarta Composite Index added 1.69% to 6,496.86 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was 1.6% higher at 28,347.01.
“Last Friday on Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 gained 1.1%, the highest daily increase so far in February, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.7% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6%,“ he added.
Among heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank rose one sen to RM9.48, Public Bank added eight sen to RM25 and Petronas Chemicals gained six sen to RM8.57.
Of actives, Sapura Energy was flat at 30.5 sen, Bumi Armada declined one sen to 22.5 sen and JAG lost 2.5 sen to 5.5 sen.
Market breadth was positive with 446 gainers and 378 losers, while 389 counters remained unchanged, 653 untraded and 33 others suspended.
Total volume fell to 2.75 billion units valued at RM1.65 billion from 3.06 billion units valued at RM1.9 billion recorded last Friday.
The FBM Emas Index increased 30.44 points to 11,780.71, the FBMT 100 Index rose 29.05 points to 11,641.95 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index went up 40.12 points to 11,703.72.
The FBM 70 rose 43.76 points to 14,071.95 and the FBM Ace Index increased 7.59 points to 4,654.18.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 20.28 points to 17,652.85, the Plantation Index fell 9.52 points to 7,325.91 and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.44 of-a-point to 163.57.
Main Market volume fell to 1.80 billion shares valued at RM1.46 billion from 2.18 billion shares valued at RM1.81 billion last Friday.
Warrants’ turnover eased to 481.76 million units worth RM105.79 million from 559.98 million units worth RM118.5 million previously.
Volume on the ACE Market increased to 463.11 million shares valued at RM77.23 million from 320.18 million shares valued at RM55.26 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 263.70 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (363.66 million), construction (110.85 million), technology (122.76million), SPAC (nil), financial services (35.64 million), property (93.37 million), plantations (23.32 million), REITs (10.17million), closed/fund (79,000), energy (664.22 million), healthcare (25.67million), telecommunications and media (49.67 million), transportation and logistics (28.86 million), and utilities (13.53 million).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM168.01 per gramme, up 98 sen from RM167.03 at 5pm last Friday. — Bernama
