KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — Bursa Malaysia closed higher at midweek, as investors consistently gaining confidence, supported by recovery in the global economy.
This includes the positive progress of the US-China trade deal, a dealer said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended 10.38 points higher at 1,643.21 from yesterday’s close of 1,632.83.
The index opened 5.44 points better at 1,638.27 and moved between 1,635.80 and 1,645.54 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbering decliners 490 to 329, while 414 counters remained unchanged, 623 were untraded and 29 others suspended.
Volume was slightly lower at 2.67 billion units worth RM1.97 billion from 2.76 billion units worth RM1.97 billion yesterday.
A dealer said Chinese stocks were lifted at the highest level since March last year following updates of the trade deal.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.18 per cent to 29,975.31, while the Shanghai Stock Exchange gained 1.24 per cent to 3,216.30.
“And coupled with the recovery in its services sector, Chinese investors are pumping in fund in their market and elsewhere, including Bursa Malaysia.
“Overall, investors (globally) are happy with the Sino-US trade talks,” he added.
The US Chamber of Commerce executive vice-president for international affairs Myron Brilliant was reported as saying that the both US and China are moving towards the “end-game” stage with the deal.
“Ninety per cent of the deal is done, but the last 10 per cent is the hardest part, it’s the trickiest part and requires trade-offs on both sides,” he said.
Back home, among the heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM9.24, PetChem down two sen to RM9.08, Tenaga shed four sen to RM12.54, while Public Bank rose 30 sen to RM23.
Among actives, My EG slipped four sen to RM1.42, KNM gained 2.5 sen to 15 sen, Priceworth inched up half-a-sen to 6.5 sen, while Sapura Energy was flat at 35.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index rose 74 points to 11,585.04, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 63.44 points to 11,742.30 and the FBMT 100 increased 68.71 points to 11,426.69.
The FBM 70 was 72.20 points higher at 14,326.95 but the FBM Ace Index narrowed 2.77 points to 4,834.34.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.52 point stronger at 169.13, the Plantation Index was 36.06 points higher at 7,218.10 and the Financial Services Index advanced 77.23 points to 16,898.86.
Main Market volume decreased to 1.89 billion shares worth RM1.76 billion from 2.0 billion shares worth RM1.80 billion.
Warrants appreciated to 483.31 million units valued at RM103.48 million from 407.85 million units valued at RM88.01 million.
Volume on the ACE Market narrowed to 299.42 million shares worth RM73.25 million versus 354.18 million shares worth RM82.89 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 246.07 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (334.96 million), construction (137.95 million), technology (240.89 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (41.26 million), property (128.54 million), plantation (75.72 million), REITs (10.04 million), closed/fund (25,500), energy (561.28 million), healthcare (39.16 million), telecommunications and media (23.39 million), transportation and logistics (32.25 million), and utilities (14.28 million). — Bernama
