KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index closed at its intraday high for the third consecutive day, spurred by buying in selected heavyweights, led by Dialog, and small-capitalisation stocks.
After a roller-coaster trading session, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended 1.87 points firmer at 1,561.29 against compared with 1,559.42 at Wednesday’s close.
The index, which opened 1.18 points easier at 1,558.24, rebounded after hitting an intraday low of 1,551.98 in early trade.
The overall market breadth was positive with gainers trouncing losers 601 to 432, while 431 counters were unchanged, 805 untraded, and 27 others suspended.
Turnover fell to 4.09 billion units valued at RM2.98 billion from 4.54 billion units worth RM3.44 billion on Wednesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the key index went through a bumpy session after the midday break but managed to finish strong with gainers led by Dialog and Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK).
Dialog increased 21 sen to RM2.90 while KLK soared 40 sen to RM22.30. Both stocks contributed a combined 2.895 points to the rise in the composite index.
Thong said key regional markets also ended higher following an overnight rally on Wall Street.
“Investor sentiment turned positive after reports that Washington and Beijing had agreed to hold a virtual meeting before the end of the year.
“We prefer to remain cautious as profit-taking activities may emerge as regional volatility could play a part. Thus expect the index to trend around the 1,550-1,565 range towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.08, IHH added one sen to RM6.63, and CIMB bagged four sen to RM4.86, while Maybank shed three sen to RM8.05, Petronas Chemicals erased 1.5 sen to RM8.68, and Tenaga slipped one sen to RM9.73.
Of the actives, SC Estate picked up 4.5 sen to 16.5 sen, KNM lost two sen to 22 sen, Nextgreen increased 11 sen to 91.5 sen, SYF fell 8.5 sen to 34 sen, and Opcom improved 13 sen to RM1.46.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 18.77 points to 11,473.22, the FBMT 100 Index gained 8.34 points to 11,130.92, the FBM Emas Shariah Index garnered 25.28 points to 12,608.19, and the FBM ACE increased 65.02 points to 7,137.1.
The FBM 70, however, declined 8.4 points to 15,024.85.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index eased 5.33 points to 15,199.34, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.53 of-a-point to 207.65 and the Plantation Index rose 43.66 points to 6,960.89. – Bernama
