KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 ― Bursa Malaysia ended broadly higher at mid-day today, with strong buying interest across-the-board, led by index linked blue chips, Petronas Gas and Genting Bhd, dealers said.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 16.09 points at 1,854.37 from last Thursday’s close of 1,838.28.
The index moved between 1,841.78 and 1,855.16 throughout the morning session after opening 4.74 points better at 1,843.02.
Gainers outpaced losers 672 to 158, while 305 counters were unchanged, 757 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.36 billion shares worth RM885.40 million.
A dealer said the local bourse remained firm on continued positive sentiment, brought on by Malaysia's strong gross domestic product figure announced last week.
“The rise on Asian bourses indicates improved confidence in global equities following a correction earlier in February, sparked by fears about rising inflation, and investors are focusing now on strong corporate earnings,” he added.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank bagged four sen to RM10.14, Tenaga gained two sen to RM15.72, Public Bank rose 14 sen to RM21.98, Petronas Chemicals added three sen to RM8.13 and CIMB Group increased eight sen to RM7.09.
Among actives, PUC added two sen to 28 sen, Sino Hua-An rose 3.5 sen to 54.5 sen, Sapura Energy improved three sen to 71.5 sen, Hibiscus warrant gained 1.5 sen at nine sen and Hibiscus Petroleum bagged 7.5 sen to RM1.02.
Topping the gainers among index linked stocks, Petronas Gas added 64 sen to RM18.14, Genting Bhd gained 18 sen to RM9.19 and Hong Leong Financial, 54 sen higher at RM18.80.
The FBM Emas Index rose 126.09 points to 13,243.58, the FBMT 100 Index was up 120.44 points to 12,950.02 and the FBM 70 jumped 178.84 points to 16,284.13.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index surged 133.34 points to 13,568.44 and the FBM Ace increased 114.49 points to 6,357.05.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index was 166.16 points higher at 17,760.57, the Industrial Index bagged 57.64 points to 3,260.30 and the Plantation Index improved 33.24 points to 8,030.21. ― Bernama
