KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — Bursa Malaysia ended broadly higher today, in line with regional markets, bolstered by brisk buying momentum.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 18.88 points or 1.26 per cent to end the day at 1,517.71 from Monday’s close of 1,498.83.

The index opened 20.09 points higher at 1,518.92 and hovered between 1,517.47 and 1,528.76 throughout the trading session.

The overall market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbered decliners 947 to 175, while 254 counters were unchanged, 540 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Total volume decreased to 7.97 billion shares worth RM4.14 billion from Monday’s 9.07 billion shares worth RM5.32 billion.

OANDA senior market analyst for Asia Pacific Jeffrey Halley said Malaysian shares have rallied along with the rest of Asia after the US Federal Reserve (Fed) announced the start of corporate bond buying and extra lending for small and medium enterprises.

“Market sentiment was further boosted by news that US President Donald Trump is considering investing US$1 trillion in the US infrastructure. With the slow reopening of the domestic economy, Air Asia lifted spirits by announcing a return to full domestic services in July,” he told Bernama.

AirAsia jumped six sen to 92.5 sen at the close today.

The Fed said it will start purchasing corporate bonds on Tuesday through the secondary market corporate credit facility, one of several emergency facilities recently launched by the US central bank to improve market functioning in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index expanded 2.17 per cent to 2.,670.69, Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 4.88 per cent to 22,582.21 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index strengthened 2.39 per cent to 24,344.09.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose six sen to RM7.76, TNB jumped 18 sen to RM12, Petronas Chemicals went up eight sen to RM6.55, IHH Healthcare gained one sen to RM5.43, Maxis increased four sen to RM5.31, Top Glove advanced 76 sen to RM15.96 and Public Bank was flat at RM16.42.

Of the most actives, AT Systematization was one sen higher at 14.5 sen, Prestarian soared 14 sen to 46.5 sen, Ucrest appreciated 7.5 sen to 21 sen, Barakah Offshore bagged two sen to four sen, Netx was flat at one sen and ConnectCounty edged down half-a-sen to 32.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 168.09 points to 10,667.94, the FBMT 100 Index improved 153.45 points to 10,528.07 and the FBM 70 was 282.68 points higher at 13,079.08.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 205.97 points to 12,102.52 and the FBM ACE expanded 346.22 points to 5,897.13.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 3.13 points to 135.77, the Plantation Index went up 63.75 points to 6,747.03 and the Financial Services Index grew 95.39 points to 13,081.12.

Main Market volume decreased to 4.27 billion shares worth RM3.26 billion from 5.20 billion shares worth RM4.38 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover depreciated to 565.24 million units valued at RM145.24 million from 809.69 million units valued at RM213.66 million yesterday.

Volume on the ACE Market was slightly higher at 3.13 billion shares worth RM728.32 million from 3.05 billion shares worth RM728.18 million.

Consumer products and services accounted for 5.03 billion shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (901.35 million), construction (328.68 million), technology (816.98 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (45.52 million), property (166.33 million), plantations (56.81 million), REITs (10.52 million), closed/fund (15,000), energy (1.15 billion), healthcare (87.04 million), telecommunications and media (95.21 million), transportation and logistics (86.70 million), and utilities (19.29 million). — Bernama