KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — Broad-based gains continued to lift Bursa Malaysia, underpinned by improved sentiment as the proclamation of a nationwide state of emergency helped to remove uncertainty.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rebounded 16.86 points or 1.1 per cent to 1,628.90 compared with 1,612.04 at yesterday’s close.

The index opened 5.64 points higher at 1,617.68 and moved between 1,617.68 and 1,636.37.

On the broader market, gainers trounced losers 821 to 342, while 340 counters were unchanged, 596 untraded and 11 others suspended.

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Total volume stood at 4.23 billion units worth RM2.52 billion.

An analyst said the emergency proclamation, at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic and political issues were worsening, was timely to ensure the survival of the people and the economy.

“The move helps boost market sentiment. In addition, investors seem to shrug off movement control order (MCO 2.0) concerns and continued to be nibbling on mainly lower liners and beaten-down counters,” he said.

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The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah yesterday declared a state of emergency that would be enforced until Aug 1 as a proactive measure to contain the worsening Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

Meanwhile, the reimplementation of the MCO in five states and the federal territories began today and will continue until Jan 26.

Regionally, equity markets were in positive territory following an optimism about additional US fiscal stimulus.

Having said that, the analyst said, market players were closely watching the political developments in Washington.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was reported to have said that the Democratic-held chamber would vote today to impeach President Donald Trump.

Banking counters led the way among heavyweights with Public Bank surging RM1.08 to RM21.16 and Maybank gaining 18 sen to RM8.18.

TNB was eight sen higher at RM10.20, CIMB went up nine sen to RM4.01 and RHB gained 10 sen to RM5.43.

Of the actives, Metronic was one sen higher at 11 sen, PNE added nine sen to 71.5 sen and Yong Tai was one sen better at 30.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 138.23 points to 11,690.29, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 130.71 points to 11,430.95, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 57.97 points to 13,217.80.

The FBM 70 lifted 216.84 points to 14,726.43 and the FBM ACE improved 115.99 points to 10,619.48.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 371.15 points to 14,917.66, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.80 points to 174.76 and the Plantation Index down 12.15 points to 7,450,29. — Bernama