KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 — Bursa Malaysia extended its gaining streak for a third consecutive day today, supported by persistent buying in heavyweights led by industrial products and services counters, in sync with the positive performance in regional bourses.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 6.60 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 1,398.06 from 1,391.46 at yesterday’s close.

The barometer index opened 1.19 points easier at 1,390.27 this morning and moved to a low of 1,389.94 in the early session and breached the psychological 1,400-point level when it hit 1,400.05 at mid-afternoon.

The broader market was also positive as gainers beat losers 490 to 347, while 429 counters were unchanged, 992 untraded and 16 others suspended.

Turnover inched down to 2.82 billion units worth RM1.73 billion versus 2.83 billion units worth RM1.86 billion yesterday.

Petronas Chemicals and Press Metal were the top contributors to the gains in the key index, rising 20 sen and 9.0 sen each to RM6.34 and RM4.89, respectively, with a combined total of 3.87 points.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the key regional indices ended mostly higher buoyed by optimism over China’s support on the property sector.

He told Bernama today that the world’s second-largest economy is expected to accelerate the policy rollout to support the real estate market, and that measures to support business confidence may be introduced.

Meanwhile, he said investors are hoping that the US Federal Reserve would halt its interest rates hikes ahead of the nation’s inflation report later today which would cause less damage to business activities.

“Back home, we reckon the outlook of local equities would remain steady with strong buying support from local institutions due to cheap valuations, on the back of strong local economic fundamentals that will drive the market, going forward.

“Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to retest the 1,400-mark soon. If the FBM KLCI is able to sustain above the 1,400 mark for a longer period, the outlook of the benchmark index will be positive in the mid-term.

“After breaking the 1,400 strong psychology level, we spot the next resistance at 1,415 and support at 1,375,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB increased 1.0 sen each to RM8.75 and RM5.22, respectively, IHH Healthcare advanced 7.0 sen to RM5.95, Public Bank was flat at RM3.87, while Tenaga Nasional went down 2.0 sen to RM9.03.

Of the actives, Sarawak Consolidated and KNM Group added 1.0 sen each to 49.5 sen and 8.5 sen, respectively, Salutica jumped 11.5 sen to 72 sen, and RGB International advanced 2.5 sen to 36.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 43.80 points firmer at 10,300.35, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 41.29 points to 9,990.19, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 58.15 points better at 10,602.51, the FBM 70 Index improved 31.03 points to 13,554.86, and the FBM ACE Index rose 1.74 points to 5,221.27.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased 30.40 points to 15,497.28, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 2.21 points to 161.26, the Energy Index put on 11.66 points to 813.88 while the Plantation Index shed 5.40 points to 6,896.03.

The Main Market volume expanded to 2.09 billion units valued to RM1.50 billion from 2.01 billion units valued at RM1.60 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover declined to 299.16 million units worth RM47.77 million against 311.74 million units worth RM48.00 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume fell to 422.16 million shares valued at RM179.29 million from 504.39 million shares valued at RM213.07 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 503.86 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (632.60 million); construction (86.05 million); technology (140.79 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (72.74 million); property (213.60 million); plantation (31.59 million); REITs (10.67 million), closed/fund (24,900); energy (228.10 million); healthcare (43.93 million); telecommunications and media (46.40 million); transportation and logistics (24.56 million); and utilities (57.01 million). — Bernama