KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 — Bursa Malaysia ended at its intraday high today as the market recovered from four days of consolidation on bargain hunting across the board.
The local market was also tracking its regional peers which were mostly higher following the overnight rally on Wall Street, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended 19.78 points or 1.27 per cent at 1,576.42 from yesterday’s close of 1,556.64.
The key index opened 7.49 points higher at 1,564.13 and moved between 1,561.17 and 1,576.42 throughout the day.
Volume declined to 11.67 billion shares worth RM4.97 billion from yesterday’s 19.16 billion shares worth RM7.98 billion.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 607 to 491, while 405 counters were unchanged, 483 untraded and 33 others suspended
Regionally, China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange improved 0.04 per cent to 3,320.73, Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 1.19 per cent to 2,593.75, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.78 per cent to 23,249.61, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index eased 0.05 per cent to 25,230.67.
A dealer said most Asian markets climbed today taking cue from global equities rally on signs of a slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and stronger-than-expected US economic data.
On the local front, she said the market performed broadly higher throughout the trading session, with key index lifted by buying support in heavyweight stocks, especially the financial and healthcare counters.
Trading volume remained high on buying activity by retail investors, taking the opportunity to bargain hunt on beaten-down stocks backed by the higher-than-average liquidity, she said.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank gained 15 sen to RM7.80, Public Bank rose 40 sen to RM17.80, Top Glove advanced 50 sen to RM25.00, Tenaga added two sen to RM11.16, and Hartalega increased 44 sen to RM16.56.
Among the most active, Luster bagged one sen to 14 sen, Priceworth edged up half-a-sen to four sen, XOX shed two sen to 25.5 sen, Sapura Energy eased half-a-sen to 13 sen, while Pegasus was flat at four sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 121.79 points to 11,269.65, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 111.12 points higher at 13,093.91 and the FBMT 100 Index rose 121.68 points to 11,091.52.
The FBM 70 climbed 89.33 points to 14,401.55 and the FBM ACE advanced 100.51 points to 10,099.0.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index bagged 53.22 points to 7,024.29, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 2.14 points to 139.68 and the Financial Services Index surged 193.27 points to 13,388.56.
Main Market volume fell to 7.54 billion shares worth RM3.82 billion compared with 10.72 billion shares valued at RM5.93 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover narrowed to 506.29 million units worth RM150.86 million from 949.97 million units valued at RM305.06 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market dwindled to 3.62 billion shares worth RM997.46 million versus yesterday’s 7.48 billion shares valued at RM1.75 billion.
Consumer products and services accounted for 1.22 billion shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (2.82 billion), construction (265.86 million), technology (425.09 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (61.18 million), property (1.23 billion), plantations (104.97 million), REITs (9.86 million), closed/fund (1,000), energy (981.41 million), healthcare (85.66 million), telecommunications and media (74.39 million), transportation and logistics (235.71 million), and utilities (23.34 million). — Bernama
