KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 — Bursa Malaysia ended higher today on continued buying momentum led by heavyweight MISC as investors sentiment improved, sparked by better-than-expected corporate earnings in the US, dealers said.

At the close, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.64 per cent or 10.57 points to 1,638.01 from yesterday’s close of 1,627.44.

The index opened 6.26 points higher at 1,633.70 and moved between 1,633.70 and 1,640.96 throughout the trading session.

Market breadth was positive as gainers trounced losers 598 to 328, while 422 counters were unchanged, 568 untraded and 31 others suspended.

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Volume swelled to 4.38 billion units worth RM2.84 billion against Tuesday’s 3.73 billion units valued at RM2.47 billion. 

MISC improved 2.58 per cent or 17 sen to RM6.76 with 1.57 million shares changing hands.

MISC president and chief executive officer Yee Yang Chien today said the company was expected to secure more projects this year, given its capability to take up to US$2 billion-US$3 billion worth of new jobs, compared with US$1 billion projects clinched in 2018.

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As of the first quarter of 2019, the shipping company had reportedly bid for jobs worth US$6 billion versus the similar value of bids for the whole of last year.

Meanwhile, Phillip Capital Management senior vice president (Investment) Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said movement of the FBM KLCI was consistent with the overall improvement of the global economy.

He said US stocks were back at a record high this week as investors excelled in the four months-long recovery despite continuous uncertainty on the outlook of the global economy.

“On the domestic front, despite the recent correction, we see that the financial market continued its resilience along with the domestic liquidity brought about by the revival of the infrastructure projects,” he told Bernama.

From the technical perspective, Nazri Khan said the improvement in the local bourse implied that a potential revival after the recent correction could provide a strong bullish-bias to follow through.

“We set the immediate support at around 1,600 points. Conversely, immediate resistances loom at around 1,658 points and 1,700 points,” he added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank fell two sen to RM9.14 but Public Bank improved four sen to RM22.64, Petronas Chemicals and CIMB each bagged eight sen to RM9.03 and CIMB was flat at RM5.25.

Tenaga increased six sen to RM12.34.

Most active counters, Bumi Armada perked seven sen to 27 sen, Ekovest added 6.5 sen to 93.5 sen, and Sapura rose half-a-sen to 33.5 sen.

Top gainers, Nestle soared RM1.60 to RM147.00, Tasek expanded 50 sen to RM6.45 and Takaful gained 24 sen to RM5.53.

The FBM Emas Index was 79.57 points firmer at 11,665.11, the FBMT100 increased 76.56 points to 11,475.52 and the FBM 70 put on 108.57 points to 14,732.77. 

The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 98.32 points better at 11,877.84 and the FBM Ace Index added 37.05 points to 4,789.31. 

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index went up 65.92 points to 16,883.68, the Plantation Index jumped 73.22 points to 7,265.36 and the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 1.27 points to 171.42.

Main Market volume advanced to 3.50 million shares worth RM2.68 billion against 2.93 million shares valued at RM2.30 billion on Tuesday.  

Warrants turnover expanded to 459.17 million units valued at RM81.02 million from 340.60 million units worth RM41.06 million.

Volume on the ACE Market slid to 419.85 million shares valued at RM78.06 million versus 455.00 million shares valued at RM96.08 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services accounted for 419.44 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (377.53 million), construction (484.33 million), technology (137.98 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (66.95 million), property (208.35 million), plantation (114.90 million), REITs (6.86 million), closed/fund (4,900), energy (1.50 billion), healthcare (54.13 million), telecommunications and media (36.09 million), transportation and logistics (39.39 million) and utilities (60.00 million). — Bernama