.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, Nov 9 — Bursa Malaysia recouped earlier losses to close the day on a firmer note, thanks to late buying support for index-linked counters, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.68 points to 1,524.32, its highest level in almost one month, after fluctuating between 1,513.21 and 1,533.05 throughout the day.
The composite index was largely lifted by gains in Petronas Chemicals, Maxis, IHH Healthcare, Digi, Petronas Dagangan and Telekom Malaysia.
The local market started the day higher buoyed by positive sentiment stemming from the expansionary Budget 2021 announced last Friday.
The uptrend was also in line with regional peers that cheered Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the United States presidential election with growing hopes for the country’s economic recovery.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said profit-taking, however, emerged and curbed risk appetite in Bursa the market bellwether reached its three-week high at last Friday’s close.
“The market was higher (earlier) because there was no extension of blanket moratorium in Budget 2021 which is good for banks’ earnings.
“Perhaps, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s statement that the budget may not be passed may also have rattled the market,” he told Bernama.
Anwar (PKR-Port Dickson) told the Dewan Rakyat that Budget 2021 would only receive full support if it is amended to take better care of the people.
He also raised questions over the allocations in Budget 2021 for the health sector.
Bursa Malaysia, however, recovered 10 minutes before trading ended, with buying mostly spotted in heavyweights.
On the scoreboard, gainers outnumbered losers 621 to 533, while 420 counters were unchanged, 574 untraded and 32 others suspended.
The brisk trading saw the total volume surging to 11.71 billion units worth RM4.62 billion from 7.67 billion units worth RM4.67 billion recorded last Friday.
Among the heavyweights, Hartalega bagged two sen to RM18.22, Public Bank increased eight sen to RM15.30, and Petronas Chemicals chalked up 17 sen to RM6.37.
Maybank slid six sen to RM7.12, Top Glove eased two sen to RM8.48, and Tenaga shed four sen to RM10.26.
Of the actives, AT Systematization gained 8.5 sen to 21.5 sen, Lambo added one sen to four sen, Pegasus inched up half-a-sen to 2.5 sen, while Fintec added 2.5 sen to 12.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 21.22 points to 11,040.19, the FBMT 100 Index was 19.45 points higher at 10,832.73, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 57.51 points to 13,332.91.
The FBM 70 gave up 27.76 points to 14,489.04 but the FBM ACE jumped 401.27 points to 11,375.18.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.46 points to 151.25, the Plantation Index gained 25.35 points to 7,148.73, but the Financial Services Index slipped 27.19 points to 12,267.27.
The Main Market volume increased to 4.17 billion shares worth RM3.05 billion from 3.19 billion shares worth RM3.36 billion last Friday.
Warrants turnover decreased to 892.38 million units valued at RM191.05 million from 901.24 million units valued at RM196.64 million previously.
Volume on the ACE Market swelled to 6.64 billion shares worth RM1.38 billion compared with 3.57 billion shares worth RM1.10 billion on Friday.
Consumer products and services accounted for 655.44 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.46 billion), construction (150.31 million), technology (217.82 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (30.15 million), property (618.73 million), plantations (74.79 million), REITs (8.22 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (271.12 million), healthcare (97.62 million), telecommunications and media (56.87 million), transportation and logistics (391.26 million), and utilities (107.51 million). — Bernama
