KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher today, buoyed by bullish external sentiment following the positive US Federal Reserve decision on monetary policy, dealers said. As at 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI perked 19.49 points to 1,790.89.
A dealer said Southeast Asian stocks jumped higher to lead robust gains across the region as investors returned to emerging markets in droves after the Fed’s surprise move to leave its stimulus measures intact.
Indonesian equities surged 7.4 per cent in early trade, though the advance was later pared to a 4.5 per cent gain, while the Philippines added 2.9 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.7 per cent.
“The Fed’s decision is a green light for global fund managers, after fears of a change in US monetary policy resulted in a volatile summer for Asia,” the dealer said.
On the scoreboard, the Finance Index soared 162.629 points to 16,826.93, the Plantation Index 52.96 points to 8,383.82 and the Industrial Index 34.8 points to 3,044.09. The FBM Emas Index jumped 126.1 points to 12,416.67, the FBM100 Index 120.54 points to 12,161.71, the FBM 70 104.22 points to 14,063.46 and the FBM Ace 69.93 points to 5,222.3.
Gainers outpaced losers 570 to 162, with 225 counters unchanged, 631 untraded and 35 others suspended. Trading stood at 1.07 billion shares worth RM1.25 billion.
Among actives, Flonic and Astral Supreme added 1.5 sen each to 12 sen and 21.5 sen, Integrated Rubber 3 sen to 53.5 sen, Green Ocean 4 sen to 19.5 sen and Sona Petroleum 0.5 sen to 41 sen.
For the heavyweights, Maybank added 4 sen to RM10.24, Axiata 2 sen to RM6.90, CIMB 19 sen to RM7.79, and Sime Darby and Petronas Chemicals 3 sen each to RM9.52 and RM6.82 respectively. — Bernama
