KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Bursa Malaysia finished the week higher today on last-minute buying interest, with consumer stocks leading the top gainers’ list.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM KLCI) rose by 2.02 points to close at 1,779.45 from yesterday’s 1,777.43.

After opening 0.92 of-a-point better at 1,778.35 this morning, the local index moved between 1,775.74 and 1,780.06 throughout the day.

Gainers outpaced losers by 437 to 321, with 419 counters unchanged, 625 untraded and 40 others suspended.

Volume declined to 1.31 billion units valued at RM1.54 billion from 1.64 billion units valued at RM1.79 billion yesterday.

A dealer said the FBM KLCI started on a bearish tone this morning, weighed down by profit-taking following recent’s bullish performance.

“However, the trend reversed during the last 15 minutes of the day due to bargain-hunting.

“Investors shifted their interests to the consumer-related counters, as they started to stock up ahead of Hari Raya Aildilfitri holidays,” the dealer said.

Of the consumer-related stocks, Ajinomoto increased RM1.12 to RM24.78, Panasonic Manufacturing firmed 88 sen to RM36.28, Nestle rose 26 sen to RM83.50, JayCorp improved 11 sen to RM1.36 and Magni advanced 15 sen to RM6.65.

Among heavyweights, Maybank advanced two sen to RM9.60, Genting Malaysia increased 27 sen to RM5.83, HL Bank added 14 sen to RM15.54, Maxis gained five sen to RM5.64 and CIMB firmed three sen to RM6.68.

Petronas Chemicals, PetGas and Digi were flat at RM7.15, RM18.90 and RM4.99, respectively.

Ambank declined 12 sen to RM4.98, Hap Seng eased nine sen to RM9.09, HLFG fell 16 sen to RM17.30 and IJM erased five sen to RM3.41.

Of the actives, Netx and Panpages were flat at five sen and 32 sen, respectively, Dagang Exchange and Dialog rose one sen each to 59.5 sen and RM1.93, respectively while Anzo declined one sen to 14.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index rose 16.92 points to 12,648.43 and FBMT 100 Index gained 12.70 points to 12,289.40. The FBM Emas Shariah Index was down 1.85 points to 12,831.02.

The FBM 70 increased 10.85 points to 14,934.78 and the FBM Ace was 39.35 points higher at 6,279.45.

The Finance Index declined 2.33 points to 16,843.83, Plantation Index eased 4.52 points to 7,930.24 and the Industrial Index was 7.72 points lower at 3,272.55.

The Main Market turnover declined to 915.45 million units worth RM1.47 billion from yesterday’s 1.03 billion units worth RM1.71 billion.

Volume on the ACE Market fell to 247.66 million shares valued at RM50.87 million from 423.67 million shares valued at RM67.52 million yesterday.

Warrants eased to 125.99 million units worth RM15.62 million from 179.99 million units worth RM16.84 million yesterday.

Consumer products accounted for 48.09 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (268.27 million), construction (64.50 million), trade and services (329.85 million), technology (60.44 million), infrastructure (5.07 million), SPAC (164,100), finance (49.46 million), hotels (532,200), properties (69.19 million), plantations (13.17 million), mining (7,400), REITs (6.63 million) and closed/fund (33,100).

Bursa Malaysia and its derivatives will be close on Monday and Tuesday as public holiday in lieu of Hari Raya Aidilfitri on Sunday. — Bernama