.JPG "An investor monitors the stock prices in the gallery of the RHB Investment Bank Bhd headquarters in Kuala Lumpur March 17, 2020. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — Bursa Malaysia closed higher today with gains seen in almost all indices as the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was boosted at the eleventh hour to end at its intraday high of 1,588.57, up 20.44 points.
The market also continued to hit fresh record high volume with 16.68 billion shares traded worth RM8.56 billion, compared with Wednesday’s 15.57 billion shares valued at RM8.26 billion.
The FBM KLCI gained 1.30 per cent to 1,588.57 from yesterday’s close of 1,568.13.
The key index which opened 9.34 points higher at 1,577.47 at 9 am moved between 1,575.40 and 1,588.57 throughout the session.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers beating losers 716 to 468, while 358 counters were unchanged, 437 untraded and 26 others suspended.
An analyst said the upbeat momentum was supported by the rally in the overnight US stock market, while the record high volume was driven by persistent buying in the FBM Ace index components and lower liners.
“Retail participants remained high in today’s trading with healthcare stocks continuing to attract investors’ focus, which eased on profit-taking,” she told Bernama.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank rose five sen to RM7.52, Top Glove put on 46 sen to RM28.40 and Hartalega was flat at RM19.80.
Public Bank edged up 30 sen to RM16.98, Tenaga bagged six sen to RM11.00 and IHH rose 16 sen to RM5.40.
Of the most active counters, XOX rose one sen to 27 sen, Niche firmed up 11.5 sen to 23 sen and Pegasus added half-a-sen to 3.5 sen.
Among the top gainers, Nestle increased RM3.70 to RM143.10, F&N added RM1.48 to RM32.98 and Supermax increased 78 sen to RM23.78.
As for the top losers, Adventa dipped 37 sen to RM4.71, Dutch Lady shed 36 sen to RM39.40 and Careplus slid 28 sen to RM5.12.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 135.45 points to 11,476.63, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 168.43 points firmer at 13,646.60 and the FBMT 100 Index climbed 136.68 points to 11,279.97.
The FBM 70 gained 149.40 points to 15,051.17 and the FBM Ace soared 391.09 points to 10,523.17.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 3.15 points to 141.75, the Financial Services Index went up 137.09 points to 12,993.20 and the Plantation Index added 83.73 points to 7,072.20.
Main Market volume surged to 9.0 billion shares worth RM5.35 billion compared with 7.09 billion shares valued at RM5.78 billion on Wednesday.
Warrants turnover narrowed to 759.05 million units valued at RM242.51 million from 804.62 million units worth RM336.64 million previously.
Volume on the ACE Market dwindled to 6.91 billion shares valued at RM2.96 billion versus 7.67 billion shares worth RM2.14 billion yesterday.
Consumer products and services accounted for 2.70 billion shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (2.03 billion), construction (320.87 million), technology (920.28 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (54.11 million), property (1.25 billion), plantations (77.61 million), REITs (11.17 million), closed/fund (70,100), energy (1.27 billion), healthcare (88.12 million), telecommunications and media (72.68 million), transportation and logistics (161.86 million), and utilities (31.17 million). — Bernama
