KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended its gains to end the week on a firm note, underpinned by persistent buying momentum in the index-linked counters amid positive market sentiment brought by reduced Covid-19 cases.
The decline in new Covid-19 cases is seen as a signal for economic recovery worldwide, dealers said.
In line with the regional uptrend, the benchmark index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 20.81 points or 1.5% to 1,407.34 from 1,386.53 at Thursday’s close.
The barometer index, which opened 9.02 points firmer at 1,395.55, fluctuated above the 1,400-level for most of the day and even moved as high as 1,414.67 at one point.
The overall market breadth was bullish with gainers trouncing losers 764 to 211, while 360 counters were unchanged, 568 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 6.31 billion shares worth RM3.02 billion from 4.83 billion shares worth RM2.67 billion yesterday.
Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the equities market appeared to be disregarding the disappointing economic data coming out from the United States.
He said the plunging US retail sales in March, higher-than-expected unemployment claims last week and the plummeting business sentiments in the recent survey, seems to be at the back burner for now.
Additionally, the grim global economic outlook by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the sharp decline in global oil demand estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA) seems not to affect market sentiments.
“Perhaps the decline in the number of new Covid-19 cases are fuelling hope that the economy would reopen quite soon.
“If that happens, massive economic stimulus by governments across the globe will start to show positive impact as consumers and households will begin to spend, albeit gradually and cautiously,” he told Bernama.
Mohd Afzanizam said the stigma associated to Covid-19 and the social distancing measures may keep a lid on spending growth for a few months, but it should start to normalise thereafter.
Meanwhile, another dealer said the growing optimism over the reopening of global economies has offset the news that China’s gross domestic product had shrunk by 6.8% in the first quarter of 2020 (Q1 2020) compared with Q1 2019 - the country’s worst performance since 1992.
“The market continued to move upward since the contraction was within expectations as China had implemented the lockdown in January.
“Bargain hunting is starting to dominate the market tone, especially given the recent sell-offs,” he said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose 12 sen to RM7.70, Tenaga chalked up 46 sen to RM12.70, Public Bank bagged 10 sen to RM16.04 and Petronas Chemicals advanced 25 sen to RM5.65.
Maxis was flat at RM5.46 while IHH Healthcare eased one sen to RM5.22.
Of the actives, Minetech gained two sen to 28 sen, Vivovom inched up half-a-sen to two sen while Lambo and Xidelang trimmed half-a-sen each to 1.5 sen and 7.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 149.94 points stronger at 9,774.94, the FBMT 100 Index increased 143.81 points to 9,656.75, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 161.92 points to 10,837.52, the FBM ACE appreciated 78.28 points to 4,502.88 while the FBM 70 earned 176.31 points to 11,563.58.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded 201.28 points to 12,646.95, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 3.21 points to 119.02, and the Plantation Index improved 56.64 points to 6,336.11.
Strong interest was also seen in the small-capitalisation stocks with the FBM Small Cap Index jumping 280.42 points to 11,736.34.
Main Market volume increased to 4.36 billion shares worth RM2.71 billion from 3.14 billion shares worth RM2.41 billion on Thursday.
Warrants turnover widened to 443.93 million units worth RM79.15 million from yesterday’s 377.48 million units worth RM64.35 million.
Volume on the ACE Market expanded to 1.51 billion shares worth RM232.97 million from 1.31 billion shares worth RM193.41 million previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 788.89 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (884.52 million), construction (614.74 million), technology (522.67 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (61.91 million), property (285.37 million), plantations (84.69 million), REITs (14.64 million), closed/fund (224,600), energy (718.95 million), healthcare (65.08 million), telecommunications and media (114.13 million), transportation and logistics (157.09 million), and utilities (48.59 million). - Bernama
