KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — Bursa Malaysia closed higher today, supported by persistent buying in selected heavyweights as the market reacted positively to the domestic economic development, dealers said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 6.93 points to end the day at 1,496.73 compared with Friday’s close of 1,489.80.
The market bellwether, which opened 1.96 points better at 1,491.76, fluctuated between 1,491.76 and 1,497.20 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 520 to 449, while 459 counters were unchanged, 767 untraded and 11 others suspended.
Turnover decreased to 3.68 billion units worth RM2.20 billion from 4.29 billion units valued at RM2.53 billion on Friday.
A dealer said investors gained confidence after Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the relaxation of standard operating procedure (SOP) for fully vaccinated citizens, which was positive for the market, especially for recovery-theme sectors.
Regionally, he said that Asian markets rebounded from early losses on Monday as the sharp dip in gold and oil prices briefly spooked investors.
Investors’ sentiment was shaken by a sudden drop in gold prices as a break of US$1,750 an ounce triggered stop-loss sales, taking it to as low as US$1,684 an ounce, he said.
“Meanwhile, oil benchmark Brent crude fell by 2.0 per cent on concerns that the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 would temper travel demand.
“Holidays in Tokyo and Singapore made for thin trading conditions, adding to the volatility,” he said.
Another dealer said that investors were still assessing whether the strong United States (US) payroll report last Friday would take the US Federal Reserve a step nearer to winding back on its stimulus.
Back home, heavyweights Maybank and Public Bank added 2.0 sen each to RM8 and RM3.96, respectively, Petronas Chemicals increased 1.0 sen to RM8 and TNB jumped 7.0 sen to RM9.68, while IHH Healthcare improved 5.0 sen to RM5.79.
Among the actives, Dagang NeXchange, Saudee and Kejuruteraan Asastera slipped 1.0 sen each to 81.5 sen, 8.0 sen and 54.5 sen, respectively, while Avillion went up 2.0 sen to 16 sen.
The market will be closed on Tuesday in conjunction with Awal Muharram public holiday and trading will resume on Wednesday, Aug 11.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 44.24 points higher at 10,998.34, FBMT 100 Index gained 43.51 points to 10,707.14, FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 36.24 points to 12,072.19, the FBM 70 perked 35.76 points to 14,594.94 and the FBM ACE bagged 18.23 points to 7,194.21.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 22.47 points to 14,726.93, while the Plantation Index declined 24.11 points to 6,101.34, and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.63 of-a-point to 189.23.
Main Market volume decreased to 2.57 billion shares worth RM1.87 billion from 2.85 billion shares valued at RM2.15 billion on Friday.
Warrants turnover widened to 316.01 million units worth RM44.75 million compared with Friday’s 274.24 million units valued at RM33.83 million.
Volume on the ACE Market decreased to 769.71 million shares worth RM286.94 million versus 1.16 billion shares valued at RM349.35 million previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 617.04 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (832.07 million), construction (60.12 million), technology (335.74 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (50.55 million), property (323.99 million), plantation (18 million), REITs (2.68 million), closed/fund (27,000), energy (159.44 million), healthcare (51.97 million), telecommunications and media (44.64 million), transportation and logistics (62.26 million), and utilities (15.03 million). — Bernama
