KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Bursa Malaysia continued to remain upbeat today, supported by expectations of a bullish earnings season as well as positive sentiments from the Malaysian political scene.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 4.40 points or 0.29 per cent to 1,522.43, from Friday’s close of 1,518.03.
The market bellwether opened 1.96 points higher at 1,519.99 and moved between 1,519.53 and 1,524.86 throughout the day.
Market breadth was also positive, with gainers surpassing decliners at 567 versus 403, while 440 counters were unchanged, 798 untraded and seven others suspended.
Turnover increased to 4.21 billion shares worth RM2.15 billion from 3.68 billion shares worth RM1.89 billion on Friday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim opined that the appointment of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as Malaysia’s new prime minister might have instilled investors’ confidence in the country’s leadership.
He said the local market’s performance was also in sync with that of the regional markets, amidst the increased risk-on mode among investors driven by the stronger Brent crude oil prices, although concerns about the surging Covid-19 Delta variant cases led to some cautious trading.
The oil benchmark hovered above US$67 per barrel, supported by bargain hunting activities.
“Genting Malaysia led the gainers’ list after rising by 3.2 per cent, while the Bursa Malaysia Technology Index was the top gainer among the indices, ending 1.3 per cent higher,” he said to Bernama.
An analyst said aside from companies’ second-quarter results, investors are also looking forward to the domestic inflation rate report for July, scheduled to be released on Wednesday, in addition to the Jackson Hole symposium on Thursday which may offer clues on the United States Federal Reserve’s policy outlook.
Meanwhile, heavyweights Maybank gained five sen to RM8.17, Press Metal rose seven sen to RM4.95, Genting Malaysia advanced nine sen to RM2.87, while CIMB and Petronas Chemicals added four sen to RM4.68 and RM7.98, respectively.
Public Bank was two sen higher at RM3.94, while Axiata and Dialog increased three sen to RM3.94 and RM2.60, respectively.
Hartalega lost 10 sen to RM6.96 and Top Glove dropped four sen to RM3.76.
Among the actives, MMAG eased half-a-sen to 12.5 sen, Avillion decreased two sen to 16 sen, while Fintec Global and VSolar were unchanged at 2.5 sen and 1.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 48.66 points to 11,156.62, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 44.49 points to 10,865.13, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 26.86 points to 12,244.37, the FBM 70 jumped 111.09 points to 14,709.94, and the FBM ACE went up 32.76 points to 7,179.12.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index inched down 6.0 points to 6,410.38, the Financial Services Index rose 74.98 points to 14,917.85, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.11 points to 189.37.
Main Market volume decreased to 2.25 billion shares worth RM1.72 billion from Friday’s 2.35 billion shares worth RM1.56 billion.
Warrants turnover dwindled to 278.62 million units worth RM45.56 million from 325.37 million units worth RM56.11 million.
Volume on the ACE Market expanded to 1.67 billion shares worth RM383.40 million versus 998.61 million shares worth RM269.36 million previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 819.80 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (524.74 million), construction (72.42 million), technology (256.90 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (51.96 million), property (161.70 million), plantation (26.75 million), REITs (6.05 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (200.38 million), healthcare (40.44 million), telecommunications and media (33.62 million), transportation and logistics (42.46 million), and utilities (14.34 million). — Bernama
