KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia closed in an upbeat mode today as investors cheered the nation’s first-quarter (1Q) gross domestic product (GDP) growth, which beats consensus estimates.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) settled 5.51 points higher at 1,616.62 from yesterday’s closing of 1,611.11.

The barometer index opened 1.31 points higher at 1,612.42 and moved between 1,611.93 and 1,619.45 throughout the session.

Gainers outnumbered losers 846 to 374, with 497 counters unchanged, 652 untraded and 10 others suspended.

Turnover jumped to 7.23 billion units worth RM4.54 billion compared to yesterday’s 6.04 billion units worth RM4.35 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the market was aided by continuous foreign buying, mainly in commodity-related, telecommunications, and consumer products and services stocks.

“The FBM KLCI has continued its rally, breaking out from a one-week bullish rectangular pattern today.

“The bullish momentum is expected to persist in the short- to mid-term and drive the index towards the next resistance level of 1,620. A breakthrough above this level could signal further upward movement,” he told Bernama.

Today, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour announced that the Malaysian economy expanded at a higher rate of 4.2 per cent in 1Q 2024 from 2.9 per cent in 4Q 2023, driven by stronger private expenditure and the positive turnaround in exports.

Previously, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) disclosed the advanced estimates forecast growth of 3.9 per cent for 1Q 2024, while the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey was 4.0 per cent.

The domestic market also got a further boost from the rebound in key regional markets which finished higher as investors brushed off losses on Wall Street and focused on possible US interest rate cuts and strong earnings from tech giants.

Among them, China and Hong Kong stocks recovered sharply after China’s central bank declared on Friday that it would lower the required down payments for housing loans and cut interest rates for first and second home purchases.

These announcements followed reports from Beijing officials about sustained economic weakness, particularly within the real estate sector.

At home, heavyweights, YTL Corp bagged 17 sen to RM3.82, YTL Power jumped 21 sen to RM5.39, while Petronas Chemicals and Maxis were 10 sen higher at RM7.00 and RM3.72 respectively.

IHH rose six sen to RM6.27 and MR DIY edged up five sen to RM1.86.

Among the actives, Ingenieur gained two sen to 9.5 sen, Datasonic Group climbed 5.0 sen to 52.5 sen, DNeX expanded four sen to 44 sen, Revenue fell half-a-sen to 22.5 sen, while Top Glove was flat at RM1.20.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index jumped 72.44 points to 12,308.18, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 64.40 points to 11,906.01, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 70.69 points to 12,522.21.

The FBM ACE Index surged 54.44 points to 5,351.22 and the FBM 70 Index soared 192.15 points to 17,641.06.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 51.97 points to 17,645.61, the Industrial Products and Services Index perked up 1.35 points to 194.82, the Plantation Index lost 22.16 points to 7,386.78, and the Energy Index eased 0.89 of-a-point to 985.95.

The Main Market volume increased to 4.58 billion units worth RM4 billion from 3.36 billion units worth RM3.81 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover widened to 1.76 billion units valued at RM248.02 million from yesterday’s closing of 1.61 billion units valued at RM250.16 million.

The ACE Market volume tumbled to 887.54 billion shares worth RM288.02 million from 1.08 billion shares worth RM292.17 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 609.76 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.68 billion), construction (223.55 million), technology (757.70 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (135.53 million), property (471.90 million), plantation (32.73 million), REITs (19.63 million), closed/fund (297,700), energy (199.16 million), healthcare (263.53 million), telecommunications and media (48.54 million), transportation and logistics (66.95 million), utilities (73.93 million), and business trusts (166,000). — Bernama