KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia recovered at the close today following easier trading earlier, lifted by buying in selected heavyweights and penny stocks.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 1.86 points to finish Thursday’s trading at 1,645.07 from yesterday’s close of 1,643.21.

The index opened 0.8 point higher at 1,644.01 and moved between 1,637.57 and 1,645.61 throughout the day.

Market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbering decliners 437 to 396, while 413 counters remained unchanged, 610 were untraded and 33 others were suspended.

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Volume was higher at 3.18 billion units worth RM2.13 billion from 2.67 billion units worth RM1.97 billion recorded yesterday.

A dealer said Bursa Malaysia managed to close in positive territory after an easier trading on Thursday.

“Since the market opened, we saw a consistent sell-off in local stocks, especially the Genting-related stocks, after posting higher share prices yesterday.

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“At 5 pm today, Genting Malaysia fell three sen to RM3.25 while Genting Bhd declined 15 sen to RM6.80,” the dealer said.

Yesterday, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas announced that Genting Malaysia, which is involved in the gaming and leisure businesses, was purchasing the superyacht Equanimity for US$126 million (US$1=RM4.08).

It was a positive move as it could improve Genting’s brand and increase VIP gaming volume, according to RHB Research in its note today.

The research house reiterated a “buy” call on Genting Malaysia.

The sale marks the highest recovery for the government from the 1Malaysia Development Bhd case, as the sum proposed by Genting was the highest bid since Equanimity was put up for sale in Oct 2018.

Meanwhile among the heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM9.27,  PetChem was up by two sen to RM9.10, Tenaga increased 10 sen to RM12.64, while Public Bank was two sen weaker at RM22.98.

Among actives, KNM added 1.5 sen to 16.5 sen, Barakah and Pegasus inched up one sen each to 10.5 sen and three sen respectively, and Bumi Armada was flat at 19.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index rose 31.42 points to 11,616.46, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 51.33 points to 11,793.63 and the FBMT 100 increased 28.46 points to 11,455.15.

The FBM 70 was 98.59 points higher at 14,425.54 but the FBM Ace Index narrowed 7.81 points to 4,826.53.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.40 point stronger at 169.53, the Financial Services Index advanced 23.91 points to 16,922.77 while the Plantation Index was 10.62 points lower at 7,207.48.

Main Market volume increased to 2.4 billion shares worth RM1.96 billion from 1.89 billion shares worth RM1.76 billion recorded yesterday.

Warrants fell to 452.56 million units valued at RM104.45 million versus 483.31 million units valued at RM103.48 million.

Volume on the ACE Market widened to 331.75 million shares worth RM65.82 million against yesterday’s 299.42 million shares worth RM73.25 million.

Consumer products and services accounted for 270.08 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (310.79 million), construction (239.46 million), technology (212.75 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (43.46 million), property (210.40 million), plantation (28.97 million), REITs (7.54 million), closed/fund (16,300), energy (893.04 million), healthcare (40.99 million), telecommunications and media (30.66 million), transportation and logistics (81.73 million), and utilities (8.47 million). — Bernama