KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 — The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended higher on Wednesday, boosted by buying momentum in selected heavyweights and in line with regional markets as the US-China trade negotiations remain on track.

At 5pm, the benchmark index rose 3.31 points or 0.21 per cent to finish at 1,587.18 from 1,583.87 at Tuesday’s close, after moving between 1,582.46 and 1,590.51 throughout the day.

The FBM KLCI opened 3.77 points firmer at 1,587.64.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 548 to 318, with 376 counters unchanged, 772 untraded and 22 others suspended.

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Volume shrank to 2.51 billion shares worth RM1.66 billion from 3.41 billion shares worth RM4.21 billion on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump said the United States and China were moving closer to the first phase of a trade deal after top negotiators from both countries agreed to keep working to resolve the remaining issues.

AxiCorp chief Asia market strategist Stephen Innes said cross-asset volatilities were very low, and further volume suppression could be on the cards ahead with the Thanksgiving holiday in the US on Nov 28.

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“The calm in the US treasury market is having a soothing influence across a breadth of asset classes. But this could be the calm before the storm as all the data that matter before Christmas will be released next week.

“If we get a couple of decent follow-up prints next week, it will be difficult for the doom-and-gloomers to articulate a doomsday stance on the US economy. Of course, the US-China relations are always going to be a thorn in the market’s side, but even on that front, risks are slowly evaporating,” he said in a note today.

Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index expanded 0.15 per cent to 26,954.0, Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.28 per cent to 23,437.77 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index increased 0.19 per cent to 3,213.97.

Meanwhile, among Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights, TNB advanced 16 sen to RM13.56, Public Bank climbed 24 sen to RM19.74, Petronas Chemicals increased eight sen to RM7.13 and Maxis expanded 10 sen to RM5.46. However, IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.40, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.58 and CIMB eased two sen to RM5.25.

Of the actives, Solarvest gained 6.5 sen to 82 sen, Iris Corp added one sen to 15 sen, Bumi Armada and Alam Maritim inched up half-a-sen sen each to 52.5 sen and 13.5 sen, respectively. Netx Holdings and Sapura Energy were flat at two sen and 28 sen while JAKS Resources trimmed nine sen to RM1.17.

The FBM Emas Index was 8.53 points higher at 11,258.06, the FBMT 100 Index increased 10.54 points to 11,075.39 and the FBM Ace was up 22.17 points at 4,826.15. In contrast, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 5.41 points to 11,807.41 and the FBM 70 decreased 38.26 points to 14,041.39.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products & Services Index added 0.21 of-a-point to 151.82, the Financial Services Index rose 22.62 points to 15,455.05 and the Plantation Index shed 2.1 points to 7,130.28.

Main Market volume decreased to 1.60 billion shares worth RM1.40 billion from 2.20 billion shares worth RM3.86 billion on Tuesday.

Warrants turnover fell to 244.24 million units valued at RM49.24 million from 333.83 million units valued at RM63.70 million yesterday.

Volume on the ACE Market depreciated to 672.23 million worth RM207.12 million from 871.14 million units worth RM288.02 million on Tuesday.

Consumer products and services accounted for 196.30 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (219.39 million), construction (170.85 million), technology (106.16 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (496.52 million), property (169.06 million), plantations (55.61 million), REITs (8.03 million), closed/fund (58,000), energy (495.0 million), healthcare (15.84 million), telecommunications and media (77.87 million), transportation and logistics (15.66 million), and utilities (15.68 million). — Bernama