KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — Bursa Malaysia closed the morning session higher on stronger across-the-board buying demand, following Wall Street’s overnight gains.
At 12.30 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 16.03 points better at 1,722.59 from yesterday’s close of 1,706.56.
After opening 6.27 points firmer at 1,712.83 today, the local index ranged between 1,711.44 and 1,722.97 throughout the session.
In a note, Public Investment Bank Bhd said the FBM KLCI is anticipated to trend higher for the rest of the week given stronger recovery in an upward momentum, ranging between the 1,720 and 1,700 marks.
“An immediate challenge would be having the index to stay above its watershed 1700-points level at the end of the week. Support levels for the index are at 1,664, 1,680 and 1,700, while the resistance levels are at 1,720, 1,734 and 1,743,” it added.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index rose 4.16 points to 2,779.76, the Nasdaq Composite increased 14.36 points to 7,486.77 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 8.07 points better at 25,891.32.
On Bursa Malaysia, the broader market was positive with gainers outpacing decliners 576 to 252, while 338 counters were unchanged, 688 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.99 billion shares worth RM1.36 billion.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM9.51, Public Bank gained four sen to RM25.04, Tenaga added two sen to RM13.34 and Petronas Chemicals was 24 sen higher at RM9.14.
Among actives, Sapura Energy rose one sen to 32 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum inched up three sen to RM1.08 and Bumi Armada was half-a-sen higher at 22 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was 136.81 points higher at 12,007.39, the FBMT 100 Index increased 135.78 points to 11,866.92 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index surged 155.62 points to 11,999.62.
The FBM 70 went up 269.68 points to 14,425.32, while the FBM Ace Index increased 1.27 points to 4,663.38.
Sectorwise, the Financial Services Index was 103.19 points higher at 17,769.64, the Plantations Index gained 96.86 points to 7,499.30 and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 2.32 points better at 168.17. — Bernama
