KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — Bursa Malaysia, along with its Asian peers, ended higher on Tuesday amid optimism that the Covid-19 death toll and new cases are slowing down in several major economies.
At 5pm, key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 28.23 points or 2.10 per cent to 1,369.92 from 1,341.69 recorded at Monday’s close.
The index opened 13.82 points firmer at 1,355.51 and fluctuated between 1,352.63 and 1,369.92 throughout the day.
On the scoreboard, gainers thumped losers 900 to 134, while 279 counters were unchanged, 608 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 6.60 billion shares worth RM3.36 billion from 5.98 billion shares worth RM2.60 billion yesterday.
Stock markets in the United States rallied on hopes that the coronavirus outbreak is slowing down, signalling an economic recovery.
The Dow Jones Index soared 7.73 per cent to 22,679.99, Nasdaq gained 7.33 per cent to 7,913.24 and S&P advanced 7.03 per cent to 2,663.68.
Around Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2.12 per cent to 24,253.29, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index improved 2.01 per cent to 18,950.18 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index was 3.99 per cent higher at 2,569.22.
On the local bourse, persistent buying emerged since the morning session and trading volume continued to grow at the close.
Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank increased 18 sen to RM7.83, Tenaga gained 10 sen to RM12.20, IHH added nine sen to RM5.12 and Maxis added 29 sen to RM5.41. Altogether, these counters contributed 10.24 points to the composite index.
Meanwhile, Petronas-linked companies also emerged as a contributor to the index’s rise today, following the national oil and gas company’s new oil discovery in operations offshore US Gulf Of Mexico.
Shares of PetDag jumped 86 sen to RM20.96 and PetGas picked up 10 sen to RM15.40, but PetChem was flat at RM4.78.
Riding on the higher crude oil price were the plantation stocks. Sime Darby Plantation rose 40 sen to RM5.05, IOI Corp was up six sen at RM3.93, KLK climbed 60 sen to RM21.26 and PPB was 36 sen higher at RM16.68.
Meanwhile, the most active counters list continued to be dominated by energy-linked stocks ahead of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) meeting.
Sapura Energy inched up half-a-sen to 11 sen, Hibiscus Energy rose 2.5 sen to 51.5 sen and Bumi Armada was one sen better at 18 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index appreciated 202.52 points to 9,477.71, the FBMT 100 Index increased 190.59 points to 9,367.77 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 260.51 points to 10,402.56.
The FBM 70 lifted 215.44 points to 11,084.20 and the FBM ACE advanced 262.77 points to 4,232.90.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 172.00 points to 12,416.30, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 3.39 points to 109.33 and the Plantation Index was 219.16 points stronger at 6,351.81.
Main Market volume widened to 4.63 billion shares valued at RM3.02 billion from 4.56 billion shares valued at RM2.36 billion recorded on Monday.
Warrants turnover rose to 479.01 million units worth RM103.88 million versus 391.84 million units worth RM94.73 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market increased to 1.49 billion shares valued at RM236.29 million compared with yesterday’s 1.02 billion shares valued at RM152.38 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 671.36 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (740.45 million), construction (499.67 million), technology (498.03 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (76.93 million), property (283.18 million), plantations (137.27 million), REITs (15.26 million), closed/fund (37,300), energy (1.39 billion), healthcare (45.89 million), telecommunications and media (104.03 million), transportation and logistics (133.72 million), and utilities (36.11 million). — Bernama
