KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — The rally in Hartalega and banks, mainly Maybank, Public Bank and CIMB, pushed Bursa Malaysia to end near its intraday high today.
At close, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) surged 19.92 points to 1,531.28 compared to yesterday’s close of 1,511.36.
The key index notched an intraday high of 1,532.04 and a low of 1,503.19.
On the broader market, market breadth was positive with gainers thumping losers 648 to 480, while 374 counters were unchanged, 547 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Total volume, however, dropped to 8.85 billion shares worth RM5.45 billion versus 9.57 billion shares worth RM6.46 billion yesterday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the FBM KLCI up 1.3 per cent today as banking stocks led an uptrend.
He said among the 30 constituents of the FBM KLCI Index, Maybank, Public Bank and CIMB were the darling of investors as they advanced by more than three per cent for the day ahead of the public holiday tomorrow.
Bursa Malaysia will be closed tomorrow for the Malaysia Day celebration and will resume on Thursday.
“Perhaps investors shifted to a more stable sector such as banks in the long run as the full-fledged loan moratorium will only be on a targeted basis starting October 1.
“Therefore, it was no surprise that the finance index increased more than two per cent, the largest gainer among sectors,” he told Bernama.
Heavyweights Maybank inched up 22 sen to RM7.50, Public Bank was 66 sen firmer at RM16.70 and CIMB gained eight sen to RM3.23.
Hartalega was RM1.10 stronger at RM14.10 on the Covid-19 vaccine optimism.
Hartalega executive chairman Kuan Kam Hon said market demand for its gloves will exceed production capacity over the next three years.
Meanwhile, five heavyweights were in the red — Top Glove lost 15 sen to RM8.43, TNB dropped 18 sen to RM11, Petronas Gas declined 14 sen to RM16.54, Press Metal depreciated four sen tp RM5.18, and Genting went down two sen to RM3.40.
The healthcare index remained in positive territory as the pharmaceutical counters recorded gains following Covid-19 vaccine optimism.
Among the top gainers were Pharmaniaga, which rose 21 sen to RM4.70, and Duopharma, which increased 17 sen to RM3.27.
Supermax remained in the red, losing 63 sen to RM8.37. Rubberex falling 29 sen to RM5.34 and Comfort Gloves dropping 31 sen to RM4.06.
Of the actives, Parkson went down one sen to 18 sen, Hiap Teck improved one sen to 23.5 sen and Macpie reduced six sen to 45 sen.
Macpie reported to Bursa Malaysia that the company has received notifications from substiantial shareholders, Ng Chee Heng and SEG Capital Intelligence Sdn Bhd, pertaining to their shares disposal of 24.54 per cent of the issued share capital of the company vide open market.
Bursa Malaysia today issued an unusual market activity (UMA) query to Parlo and Malton over a sharp rise in their share prices and trading volume recently.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 106.72 points to 10,979.20 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 66.56 points to 12,945.39.
The FBM 70 added 27.80 points to 14,082.89, the FBMT 100 Index was 110.65 points firmer at 10,791.84 and the FBM ACE surged 319.13 points to 11,378.49.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 264.59 points to 12,826.40, the Plantation Index rose 79.18 points to 7,114.24, while the Industrial Products and Services Index improved 0.93 of-a-point to 137.57.
Main Market volume depreciated to 5.28 billion shares worth RM4.05 billion from 5.53 billion shares worth RM4.79 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover declined to 742.74 million units valued at RM203.58 million from 1.06 billion units valued at RM334.46 million.
Volume on the ACE Market slipped to 2.83 billion shares worth RM1.23 billion from 2.98 billion shares worth RM1.34 billion previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 1.02 billion shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.85 billion), construction (713.42 million), technology (325.23 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (44.13 million), property (275.42 million), plantations (93.43 million), REITs (15,000), closed/fund (13,100), energy (408.38 million), healthcare (210.78 million), telecommunications and media (60.08 million), transportation and logistics (238.90 million), and utilities (23.88 million). — Bernama
