KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended Friday slightly higher on gains in banking stocks.
The benchmark FBM KLCI added 0.54 of-a-point higher at 1,594.44 after 8.82 billion securities worth RM4.19bil changed hands. Losers outnumbered gainers 577 to 472.
Dealers said the local bourse traded sideways today as investor optimism remained guarded due to rising Covid-19 cases.
Malaysia today recorded 8,290 new Covid-19 cases, which is the highest-ever recorded in a day so far.
KLCI-component stocks closed broadly in the negative, with 15 decliners, 11 advancers while four closed unchanged.
Hong Leong Bank jumped 34 sen to RM18.60, Telekom Malaysia rose 30 sen to RM6.20, Maybank added 26 sen to RM8.20, RHB Bank added 22 sen to RM5.37 and CIMB climbed 13 sen to RM4.35.
On the other hand, Hong Leong Financial Group shed 40 sen to RM17.84, Petronas Gas fell 22 sen to RM16.20, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 18 sen to RM22.26 and Petronas Dagangan shed 18 sen to RM19.30.
In the broader market, F&N jumped 52 sen to RM26.88, Kumpulan Jetson rose 30 sen to 58.5 sen, Pharmaniaga added 27 sen to RM5.06 and British American Tobacco rose 26 sen to RM15.80.
MPI lost 60 sen to RM37.20, Carlsberg fell 58 sen to RM22, Batu Kawan shed 38 sen to RM19.22 and KESM gave up 32 sen to RM11.66.
Regional stock markets closed mixed. The Nikkei 225 rose 2.10% to 29,149.41 while South Korea’s Kospi ended up 23.22 points, or 0.73%, at 3,188.73.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was unchanged at 29,124.41.
China’s CSI300 index fell 0.3% to 5,321.09, while the Shanghai Composite Index eased 0.2% to 3,600.78.