KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — Bursa Malaysia finished on a firmer note today helped by gains in heavyweights led by Petronas Chemical, dealers said.

At 5pm, the benchmark index, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI), was 31.80 points better at 1,563.64, after moving between 1,503.68 and 1,568.42 throughout the day.

Petronas Chemical was the top contributor to the index’s gain. It rose 42 sen to RM5.80, with 10.94 million shares traded.

Other leading movers were Axiata, which rose 32 sen to RM6.12, Digi, up 25 sen to RM5.20, Tenaga and IHH Healthcare added 18 sen each to RM10.54 and RM5.70 respectively, and Telekom surged 29 sen to RM6.48.

A dealer said the firmer bourse was in line with most Asian markets, which rose on bargain hunting in oversold blue-chips as well stock buyback by some of the companies.

On the local front, amid the current challenging and volatility of global equities market, the government today announced the set-up of a special economic committee to ensure the country maintained its economic growth momentum.

An economist said the move could help boost confidence in the markets as well as to the public.

Among regional peers, Hang Seng added 0.72 per cent to 21,404.96, Kospi Index was up 0.92 per cent to 1,846.63 and the Straits Times Index rose 1.48 per cent to 2,885.51.

Shanghai Composite dropped 7.63 per cent to 2,965.15 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 3.96 per cent to 17,806.70.

Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers by 487 to 381, while 335 counters remained unchanged, 600 untraded and 9 others suspended.

Total volume rose to 2.78 billion units valued at RM2.76 billion from 2.58 billion units at RM2.50 billion on Monday.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index was 161.30 points higher at 10,646.44, FBMT100 Index added 170.02 points to 10,411.82 and the FBM Emas Syariah was up 198.60 points to 11,100.51.

The FBM Ace improved 26.91 points to 4,912.82 and the FBM 70 gained 27.82 points to 11,235.25.

On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index advanced 139.68 points to 13,815.29 and the Industrial Index added 36.21 points for 2,975.

The Plantation Index eased 8.91 points to 6,706.97.

Among the actives, IFCA MSC added six sen to 56.5 sen, Sumatec gained half-a-sen to 11 sen and KNM improved one sen to 42 sen.

AirAsia fell five sen to 87 sen. The Media Shoppe was flat at 14 sen.

Main Market volume rose to 1.49 billion units worth RM2.39 billion from 1.34 billion units worth RM2.18 billion on Monday.

Turnover on the ACE Market increased to 420.38 million shares valued at RM82.09 million from 343.67 million shares valued at RM58.57 million previously.

Warrants fell to 868.51 million units worth RM293.51 million from 897.83 million units worth RM260.46 million previously. 

Consumer products accounted for 102.98 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (302.60 million), construction (76.69 million), trade and services (676.21 million), technology (45.16 million), infrastructure (23.60 million), SPAC (23.95 million), finance (79.78 million), hotels (929,300), properties (108.78 million), plantations (26.21 million), mining (8,000), REITs (26.02 million), and closed/fund (138,100).— Bernama