.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, June 8 — Bursa Malaysia extended earlier gains to finish higher today, supported by persistent buying in selected blue-chip counters.
At the close, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) expanded 9.51 points to 1,587.96 from Friday’s close of 1,578.45.
Following a three-day weekend, the index opened 2.99 points higher at 1,581.44 today and moved between 1,577.18 and 1,591.55 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers edging past losers 580 to 566, while 391 counters were unchanged, 603 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover fell to 6.71 billion shares worth RM4.11 billion from 7.21 billion units worth RM3.57 billion last Friday.
Bursa Malaysia Bhd and its subsidiaries were closed yesterday in conjunction with the official birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
Meanwhile, the regional markets were lower, with Japan’s Nikkei declining 0.19 per cent to 28,963.56, Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropping 0.27 per cent to 3,167.14, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipping 0.02 per cent to 28,781.38.
An analyst said Bursa Malaysia’s steady performance was supported by better market sentiment following a decline in the number of daily Covid-19 cases and growing optimism over the vaccination programme.
The Health Ministry said Malaysia recorded 5,566 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday (June 8).
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the FBM KLCI closed 0.6 per cent higher today fuelled by the rally in the banking sector.
He noted that banking stocks such as RHB Bank, CIMB, HLB, HLFG all closed higher by at least 1.0 per cent today.
“The number of daily Covid-19 cases in Malaysia is starting to show a decline from around 8,000 cases last week.
“Moreover, more vaccination centres are commencing operations in the Klang Valley this week, which should boost the vaccination rates in Malaysia,” he told Bernama.
He said with vaccination rates being higher, the journey towards herd immunity would be faster, enabling more businesses to operate on a larger scale and contribute to economic growth.
“Therefore, investors might have been on this thematic play today and viewed the banking sector as a proxy to economic growth,” he added.
Healthcare counters continued their downtrend amid the declining demand outlook as global economies recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic, with Top Glove falling 12 sen to RM4,78, Hartalega losing 11 sen to RM8.46 and Superemax dropping 10 sen to RM3.82.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM8.20, PetChem decreased two sen to RM8.06, TNB gained two sen to RM9.95 and Press Metal was flat at RM5.21.
Bursa Malaysia’s top active stock, Serba Dinamik, declined another 14.5 sen to 62 sen on investor concerns over issues raised by its auditors.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 64.47 points to 11,582.27 and the FBMT 100 Index bagged 65.97 points to 11,271.55, but the FBM ACE shed 87.90 points to 7,712.40.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index inched up 1.41 points to 12,729.71 and the FBM 70 strengthened 81.81 points to 15,021.72.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved 217.74 points to 15,362.42, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.29 point to 193.67, and the Plantation Index rose 47.23 points to 6,817.03.
Main Market volume grew to 4.93 billion shares worth RM3.63 billion from 4.69 billion shares worth RM2.84 billion recorded at Friday’s close.
Warrants turnover increased to 365.81 million units valued at RM48.91 million from 331.79 million units valued at RM65.24 million.
Volume on the ACE Market fell to 1.41 billion shares worth RM432.65 million versus 2.18 billion shares worth RM670.40 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 665.21 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.10 billion), construction (262.16 million), technology (772.98 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (127.55 million), property (518.65 million), plantation (31.04 million), REITs (14.43 million), closed/fund (10,100), energy (1.04 billion), healthcare (97.52 million), telecommunications and media (83.07 million), transportation and logistics (192.07 million) and utilities (20.99 million). — Bernama
