KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — Strong local market sentiment has driven Bursa Malaysia higher as it breached the 1,400 points.
At 3pm, key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) jumped 21.29 points to 1,401.59, surpassing its immediate resistance level from yesterday’s close of 1,380.30.
Market breadth was positive with gainers surpassing losers 596 to 264, while 378 counters were unchanged, 733 untraded and 69 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 4.22 billion shares worth RM1.97 billion.
The FBM KLCI is expected to continue reacting positively to the gradual resumption of the country's economic activities following more than 40 days of the movement control order (MC), designed to flatten the curve of Covid-19 infections rate.
Meanwhile, the US continues to be the most infected country in the world for Covid-19 with more than a million people infected and 61,472 deaths so far,
In a bid to cushion the impact of Covid-19 on its economy, the US Federal Reserve signalled the continuity of its nearly zero interest rates for about a year while conducting unlimited quantitative-easing asset buys at the same time.
On heavyweight counters, Petronas Chemicals rose 37 sen to RM5.51, Maybank was up eight sen to RM7.49, Tenaga Nasional added 10 sen to RM12.20 and Public Bank inched 20 sen to RM16.20.
As for the actives, Sapura Energy inched one sen to 9.0 sen while Velesto up two sen to 15 sen while AirAsia Group added 3.0 sen to 81.5 sen.
Consumer products and services stocks led the gainers with Dutchlady adding 44 sen to RM47.96, F&N rising RM1.06 sen to RM32.26 and Nestle leaping RM1.10 to RM140.10.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 152.17 points stronger at 9,789.23, the FBMT 100 Index increased 152.39 points to 9,659.63, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 175.78 points to 10,883.63, the FBM ACE appreciated 96.95 points to 4,798.88 while the FBM 70 earned 208.60 points to 11,742.38.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded 152.71 points to 12,410.24, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 4.62 points to at 120.05 while Plantation Index rose 83.73 points to 6,329.69. — Bernama
