KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 ― Bursa Malaysia finished its trading on a positive note today, taking the cue from its Asian peers following the overnight rally on Wall Street backed by a strong earnings season.

A dealer said the local stock market was also supported by the uptrend in crude oil prices after the United States reinstated sanctions on Iran.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up 11.34 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 1,791.09 from Monday’s close of 1,779.75.

The index opened 4.59 points better at 1,784.34 and hovered between 1,782.22 and 1,791.98 throughout the day.

Market breadth remained positive, with gainers outpacing losers 576 to 328 while 424 were unchanged, 553 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Volume rose to 2.53 billion units worth RM2.32 billion from 2.12 billion units worth RM1.70 billion yesterday.  

The dealer said the overnight Wall Street’s S&P 500, which ended at its highest level since Jan 29, 2018, had lifted investors’ sentiment globally.

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 1.80 per cent to 3,344.63, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.69 per cent to 22,662.74 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was 1.54 per cent higher at 28,248.88.        

On Washington’s move to reimpose sanctions on Iran, the dealer said it had fuelled the crude oil prices, pushing benchmark Brent crude to US$74.13 per barrel as at 5.19 pm today.

“This could be a boon for Malaysia as it is a net exporter of oil and gas,” he added.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank perked two sen to RM9.89, Public Bank and Tenaga improved six sen each to RM24.32 and RM15.50 respectively, Petronas Chemicals rose four sen to RM9.05 and CIMB was three sen better at RM5.83.

Among actives, Frontken and MRCB added four sen to 64 sen and 79.5 sen respectively, Sino Hua-An bagged three sen to 32 sen, Iris ticked up one sen to 17.5 sen while Borneo Oil was unchanged at six sen.

Far East led the gainers list by putting on 70 sen to RM13.20, followed by BAT, which improved 58 sen to RM34.36, while Petronas Gas, United Plantations and BLD Plantation were 38 sen higher each at RM19.00, RM27.40 and RM7.44 respectively.

The FBM Emas Index jumped 80.21 points to 12,665.51, the FBMT 100 Index increased 76.10 points to 12,447.52, the FBM Emas Shariah Index soared 114.21 points to 12,822.90, the FBM 70 climbed 84.49 points to 15,475.11 and the FBM Ace Index inched up 23.90 points to 5,422.23.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index elevated 82.21 points to 7,709.21, the Finance Index accumulated 36.83 points to 17,505.93 and the Industrial Index was up 21.55 points at 3,284.62.

Main Market volume increased to 1.68 billion shares worth RM2.10 billion, from 1.15 billion shares worth RM1.50 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover, however, was lower at 408.85 million units worth RM95.67 million, compared with 428.44 million units worth RM112.82 million yesterday.

Volume on the ACE Market fell to 438.62 million shares worth RM130.57 million, versus 534.81 million shares worth RM88.39 million yesterday.

Consumer products accounted for 56.09 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (273.33 million), construction (178.23 million), trade and services (532.72 million), technology (327.74 million), infrastructure (21.63 million), SPAC (1.23 million), finance (43.88 million), hotels (2.08 million), properties (210.41 million), plantations (28.30 million), mining (41,200), REITs (6.29 million) and closed/fund (15,000). ― Bernama