KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — Persistent buying lifted Bursa Malaysia to close higher today, driven by positive catalysts on the global and local front and spurred by the uptrend in regional markets, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended at the day’s high of 1,701.03, up 7.44 points, against yesterday’s close of 1,693.59.
It moved to a low of 1,695.38 earlier in the day after opening 6.0 points higher at 1,699.59.
The overall market breadth remained bullish as gainers outnumbered losers 472 to 356 while 368 counters were unchanged, 716 untraded and 25 others were suspended.
Total volume rose to 2.48 billion shares, worth RM2.05 billion, from yesterday’s 2.44 billion shares valued at RM2.12 billion.
A dealer said Asian stocks traded mostly higher today due to positive developments on the global economic front, including the next round of trade negotiations between the United States and China scheduled next week during Chinese Vice Premier Liu He’s visit to the United States.
Meanwhile, the British Parliament is scheduled to debate and vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit “plan B” on January 29 while the US Federal Reserve is scheduled to hold a two-day policy setting meeting on January 30, he said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank improved four sen to RM9.66, TNB rose two sen to RM13.64, Petronas Chemicals jumped 17 sen to RM8.69 while Public Bank slipped two sen to RM24.80.
Of actives, Bumi Armada earned half-a-sen to 23 sen, Sapura Energy and Buna Puri were flat at 28 sen and 19.5 sen, respectively, while Iris Corp eased half-a-sen to 14 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was 66.12 points higher at 11,785.96, the FBMT 100 Index increased 65.77 points to 11,668.86, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 80.30 points to 11,725.73, the FBM 70 soared 139.80 points to 13,980.29 and the FBM Ace Index rose 13.58 points to 4,464.45.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index firmed 46.13 points to 17,636.53, the Plantation Index advanced 12.42 points to 7,302.17 and the Industrial Products and Services Index earned 2.01 points to 164.19.
Main Market volume rose to 1.76 billion shares, valued at RM1.93 billion, against yestrday’s 1.71 billion shares worth RM2 billion.
Warrants turnover widened to 397.69 million units, worth RM75.17 million, against 330.38 million units, valued at RM60.63 million, transacted yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market decreased to 324.47 million shares, worth RM51.60 million, compared with 397.56 million shares, valued at RM55.33 million, recorded yesterday.
Consumer products and services accounted for 223.10 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (249.74 million), construction (162.25 million), technology (194.14 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (48.63 million), property (116.96 million), plantations (49.31 million), REITs (29.83 million), closed/fund (24,700), energy (536.21 million), healthcare (37.09 million), telecommunications and media (42.71 million), transportation and logistics (46.10 million), and utilities (24.69 million). — Bernama
