KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — Bursa Malaysia ended on a higher note today, supported by strong gains across most healthcare counters.

At 5pm, the Healthcare Index was up 3.64 per cent with RM2.16 billion shares transacted, driven by the strong performance of Hartalega, IHH, Top Glove and Pharmaniaga.

At the close, main index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up by 6.48 points at 1,595.93, compared with yesterday’s 1,589.45.

The index opened 1.03 points lower at 1,588.42 and moved between 1,587.86 and 1,601.81 throughout the day.

Overall, winners edged losers 634 to 428 while 437 counters were unchanged, 407 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Total volume decreased to 9.34 billion shares worth RM5.38 billion after hitting a record high of 12.49 billion shares worth RM6.64 billion yesterday.

An analyst said that despite the steady momentum across the board today with small- and mid-cap companies gaining traction, risk appetite remains cautious.

"Malaysia’s healthcare index, especially glove maker counters, have now gained global attention due to the spike in demand due to Covid-19.

"Meanwhile, small and mid-sized cap companies,especially those involved in the technology and energy sector, remain favourites among retail investors,” she said.

As for the FBM KLCI, she said banking stocks had shown strong gains today, offsetting the losses made yesterday. However, the index still faces difficulty in breaching the immediate resistance level of 1,600.

Of the FBM KLCI components, Hartalega was up 54 sen to RM18.00, IHH added 10 sen to RM5.46 and Top Glove rose 12 sen to RM24.94.

Among the banking counters, Public Bank gained 34 sen to RM17.98, CIMB Group climbed six sen to RM3.59 and Maybank was four sen higher at RM7.86.

Of the top gainers, PharmaNiaga leaped 73 sen to RM3.50 and Duopharma rose 38 sen to RM2.28.

Energy counters dominated the active counters list today with Sapura Energy rising one sen to 10 sen and Velesto inching up half-a-sen to 15 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index edged up 48.07 points to 11,302.75, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 38.21 points to 11,150.91 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 36.60 points stronger at 13,101.82.

The FBM 70 rose 20.36 points to 14,172.06 and the FBM ACE was 176.58 points better at 7,622.13.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved 102.77 points to 13,487.27, the Plantation Index declined 56.99 points to 6,974.99 and the Industrial Products and Services Index increased 0.81 of-a-point to 139.06.

Main Market volume rose to 5.01 billion shares worth RM4.46 billion compared with yesterday’s 4.53 billion units worth RM5.29 billion.

Warrants turnover, meanwhile, declined to 669.08 million units worth RM275.37 million from Monday’s 946.17 million units worth RM501.74 million.

Volume on the ACE Market was almost halved to 3.66 billion shares worth RM650.10 million from 7.01 billion shares worth RM848.90 million previously.

Consumer products and services accounted for 544.44 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.50 billion), construction (257.81 million), technology (563.26 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (54.63 million), property (252.67 million), plantations (80.87 million), REITs (67.09 million), closed/fund (85,000), energy (1.22 billion), healthcare (190.02 million), telecommunications and media (87.46 million), transportation and logistics (219.77 million) and utilities (24.57 million). — Bernama