KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Bursa Malaysia ended the trading week marginally higher against a backdrop of weak regional markets.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) settled 8.70 points higher to an intraday high of 1,446.42 from yesterday’s close of 1,437.72.
The market bellwether opened easier by 2.33 points at 1,435.39 and reached an intraday low of 1,433.26 before picking up steam to close higher.
On a weekly basis, the benchmark index gained 63.95 points over the last five trading days.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 400 to 388, while 591 counters were unchanged, 983 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover decreased to 2.04 billion units worth RM1.51 billion against 2.71 billion units worth RM2.60 billion yesterday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said equity markets around the world had been very volatile recently as investors were worried that major economies would be pushed into recession before inflation is tamed.
Meanwhile, a strong US dollar and aggressive interest rate hike by the United States Federal Reserve would create uncertainties in emerging markets, he told Bernama.
Among Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank increased six sen each to RM8.66 and RM4.50 respectively, Petronas Chemicals jumped 10 sen to RM9, CIMB gained three sen to RM5.53 and IHH Healthcare fell nine sen to RM6.
Of the actives, Eduspec gained half sen to two sen, Hextar climbed 2.5 sen to 54.5 sen, Vinvest Capital was two sen higher at 22 sen, TA Win and My E.G. were flat at 5.5 sen and 83 sen respectively, and Borneo Oil and Top Glove eased half sen each to 2 sen and 83 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded by 51.10 points to 10,220.90, the FBM 70 widened 35.60 points to 12,028.63, and the FBMT 100 Index improved 52.99 points to 9,970.46.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 33.69 points to 10,197.40 and the FBM ACE climbed 18.15 points to 4,801.27.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index soared 124.211 points to 16,511.08, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 1.37 points to 175.76, the Plantation Index trimmed 32.38 points to 6,807.27, while the Energy Index decreased 3.73 points to 679.55.
The Main Market volume went down to 1.26 billion shares worth RM1.31 billion from 1.97 billion shares worth RM2.42 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover eased to 252.91 million units worth RM41.86 million from 290.39 million units worth RM50.74 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume appreciated to 523.30 million shares worth RM162.39 million from 447.05 million shares worth RM125.28 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 212.19 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (368.64 million), construction (31.21 million), technology (115.70 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (78.35 million), property (126.70 million), plantation (33.48 million), REITs (64.39 million), closed/fund (3,000), energy (118.39 million), healthcare (107.49 million), telecommunications and media (21.60 million), transportation and logistics (30.56 million), and utilities (11.61 million). — Bernama
