KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Bursa Malaysia rode the regional trend wave to close higher today supported by index-linked counters and commendable performance by rubber-based producers, dealers said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 16.89 points to end the day at 1,490.14 from 1,473.25 at last Friday’s close.
The index, which opened 1.61 points stronger at 1,474.86 this morning, hovered between 1,473.55 and 1,492.55 throughout the day.
The overall market breadth was however negative with decliners marginally outpacing gainers 574 to 511, while 343 counters were unchanged, 440 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Total volume rose to a staggering 10.3 billion shares worth RM6.73 billion from 9.04 billion shares worth RM9.31 billion last Friday.
AmInvestment Bank representative, Joshua Ng said the FBM KLCI has seen a recent massive re-rating of the already high protective equipment glove sector (now with a 9.0 per cent weighting in the FBM KLCI).
“This was due to the strong demand for personal protective equipment amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, and it will probably go beyond the pandemic as a result of stronger hygiene awareness and practices of the entire world population,” he said in a note today.
AmInvestment Bank said the ferocity of the domestic liquidity has been driven by the risk-on sentiment globally triggered by the massive monetary and fiscal stimulus packages put in place by central banks and governments around the globe.
In the case of the US Fed, the monetary stimulus promised is an “unlimited” one.
Other factors include optimism on the reopening of the economy and Covid-19 vaccine development; as well as the reality that risk-free assets such as cash and the Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) are hardly generating any positive inflation-adjusted yield following a series of cuts in the overnight policy rate (OPR) by Bank Negara Malaysia to a level last seen during the global financial crisis in 2008/2009.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.21 per cent to 22,142.6, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng expanded 3.06 per cent to 23,664.71 and Singapore’s Straits Times improved 2.04 per cent to 2,561.89.
Among the heavyweights, Tenaga improved 64 sen to RM11.90, IHH Healthcare rose 13 sen to RM5.56 and Hartalega garnered 64 sen to RM13.18.
Meanwhile, Maybank eased two sen to RM7.48 and, Public Bank declined eight sen to RM14.58.
Of the actives, K-One bagged 12.5 sen to 44.5 sen, BCM Alliance rose 13 sen to 35.5 sen, LKL International garnered 29.5 sen to 85 sen, KNM Group added 3.5 sen and Nexgram improved one sen to 2.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 83 points firmer at 10,463.85, the FBMT 100 Index rose 85.5 points to 10,398.71, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 199.42 points to 12,224.64, the FBM ACE soared 311.51 points to 5,931.32 while the FBM 70 eased 23.49 points to 13,171.71.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index added 36.96 points to 6,822.13 while the Financial Services Index decreased 59.45 points to 12,423.29 and the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 0.34 of-a-point to 129.72.
Main Market volume trimmed to 4.88 billion shares worth RM4.71 billion from 5.64 billion shares worth RM8.20 billion last Friday.
Warrants turnover improved to 592.96 million units worth RM206.25 million from 563.18 million units worth RM175.79 million last Friday.
Volume on the ACE Market exponentially widened to 4.82 billion shares worth RM1.81 million from 2.83 billion shares worth RM930.71 million previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 796.59 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (791.95 million), construction (368.5 million), technology (448.28 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (76.61 million), property (320.82 million), plantations (142.28 million), REITs (7.89 million), closed/fund (25,800), energy (1.34 billion), healthcare (132.09 million), telecommunications and media (210.23 million), transportation and logistics (186.98 million), and utilities (60.22 million). — Bernama
