KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 ― Bursa Malaysia settled higher today for the second consecutive day on continued buying momentum in most heavyweight counters, dealers said.   

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 13.23 points to 1,663.82 from Monday’s close of 1,650.59, after moving between 1,653.00 and 1,663.82 throughout the day.

The index opened 2.85 points higher at 1,653.44.

Gainers led losers by 438 to 323, while 348 counters were unchanged, 563 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Volume, however, fell to 1.24 billion units valued at RM1.70 billion versus 1.48 billion units worth RM1.72 billion yesterday.

A dealer said the local bourse and its regional peers closed on a firm note today, tracking the strength in the overnight gains of the US’ Wall Street after the Federal Bureau of Investigation cleared Hillary Clinton of criminal email wrongdoing.

“Most investors are waiting for the US presidential election outcome. They are cautiously optimistic of a win by Democrat Clinton as she is seen to offer better certainty and stability for the country’s economy,” the dealer said.

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.80 per cent to 2,823.38, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.34 per cent to 22,878.31 and South Korea’s Seoul Composite Index added 0.29 per cent to 2,003.38.  

However, Alliance DBS Research in a note said the traders were still worried about an unexpected election win by Donald Trump which would likely lead to a market selldown due to policy uncertainties.

Back home, Bursa Malaysia traded higher following global rating firm S&P’s affirmation of Malaysia’s sovereign ratings with a stable outlook based on the country’s strong external position and high monetary flexibility with its relatively weaker but stable public finances.

The rating agency said in a statement that Malaysia’s foreign-currency sovereign credit ratings at A- for the long-term and A-2 for the short-term papers had been maintained while the local-currency sovereign credit ratings would be maintained at A for the long-term and A-1 for the short-term papers.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank surged 12 sen to RM7.95, CIMB Group firmed 11 sen to RM4.86, Sime Darby earned seven sen to RM8.31, TNB was flat at RM14.32 while PetGas declined four sen to RM22.02.

Among the actives, RGB was flat at 24.5 sen, AirAsia X increased half-a-sen to 43.5 sen, Hibiscus fell one sen to 30 sen and KStar declined two sen to 8.5 sen.

On the scoreboard, the FBM 70 improved 78.29 points to 13,548.08, the FBM Ace fell 10.98 points to 4,957.95, the FBM Emas Index advanced 81.63 points to 11,698.74 and FBMT100 Index appreciated 84.60 points to 11,409.10.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 60.79 points to 12,282.63.      

The Finance Index surged 144.27 points to 14,454.90, the Industrial Index was up 16.68 points to 3,155.99 and the Plantation Index perked 54.06 points to 7,808.46.

Main Market turnover fell to 853.36 million units worth RM1.63 billion from 1.008 billion units worth RM1.66 billion yesterday.

The ACE Market volume decreased to 176.20 million shares valued at RM28.29 million from 257.28 million shares valued at RM26.96 million.

Warrants declined to 211.51 million units worth RM47.08 million from 216.04 million units worth RM40.02 million yesterday.

Consumer products accounted for 61.92 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (180.61 million), construction (56.55 million), trade and services (328.86 million), technology (29.63 million), infrastructure (12.58 million), SPAC (40.54 million), finance (52.66 million), hotels (103,400), properties (51.16 million), plantations (25.80 million), mining (8,000), REITs (12.88 million) and closed/fund (23,000). ― Bernama