Bursa closes higher in line with regional peers

KUALA LUMPUR – The local stock market’s key index ended the day on an uptrend, in line with regional peers, dealers said.

At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI rose 8.65 points to 1,608.07 from 1,599.42 at last Thursday’s close.

The index opened 7.58 points higher at 1,607.00 and moved between 1,607.00 and 1,614.92 throughout the day.

On the broader market, gainers surged past losers 864 to 339, while 423 counters were unchanged, 535 untraded and 11 others suspended.

Total volume was higher at 10.02 billion units worth RM4.68 billion compared with 3.21 billion units worth RM2.05 billion previously.

The local market was closed on Friday for the Chinese New Year celebration.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said regional markets took the cue from Southeast Asian economies such as Singapore, which contracted less than what had been expected in the final quarter of 2020.

“Optimism for an economic recovery rose as many countries have begun rolling out Covid-19 vaccines.

“Aside from that, oil prices soared on Monday to a 13-month high as fears of heightened tensions in the Middle East prompted fresh buying, while hopes that a US stimulus and an easing of lockdowns would boost fuel demand also provided support,” he told Bernama today.

As such, Adam said it came to no surprise that oil-related counters under the local benchmark such as Dialog and Petronas Dagangan were in the green today.

Shares of Petronas Dagangan rose 38 sen to RM19.88, while Dialog’s improved 4 sen to RM3.15.

“The Bursa Malaysia Energy Index emerged as the largest gainer.

“Interestingly, technology counters too received buying interest today amid the thematic play of the global chip shortage due to the ongoing pandemic, which may be a boon for Malaysian semiconductor companies,” said Adam.

Among other heavyweights, Maybank increased 14 sen to RM8.12, MISC added 23 sen to RM6.49, Tenaga improved 12 sen to RM10.18, RHB Bank rose 16 sen to RM5.48 and IOI Corporation gained 10 sen to RM4.37.

Of the actives, Dagang NeXchange increased 10.5 sen to 53.5 sen, Luster Industries and DGB Asia rose 1.5 sen each to 24 sen and 9.5 sen, respectively, Techna-X improved four sen to 17.5 sen and Key Alliance added one sen to five sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 75.05 points to 11,736.87, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 61.07 points to 11,441.11, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 89.95 points higher at 13,210.2.

The FBM 70 rose 80.19 points to 15,351.85 and the FBM ACE increased 348.01 points to 11,231.24.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 77.48 points to 15,115.95, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased 1.24 points to 181.81, and the Plantation Index rose 50.21 points to 7,195.9. 

Volume on the ACE Market rose to 2.8 billion shares worth RM993.32 million from 787.86 million shares worth RM359.05 million previously. – Bernama, February 15, 2021