KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended gains for a fourth consecutive day with the benchmark index closing at a near three-week high today, bolstered by positive regional sentiment and strong gains in index-linked counters led by Maybank.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 14.8 points higher to close at 1,703.57 from yesterday’s close of 1,688.77, after moving between 1,686.14 and 1,704.34 throughout the day.
Gains in Maybank lifted the composite index sharply by 7.015 points. The banking stock climbed 36 sen to end the day at RM9.50 with 10.61 million shares changing hands.
The overall market breadth was bullish, with gainers thumping losers 598 to 294, with 364 counters unchanged, 614 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Volume increased to 2.69 billion units valued at RM2.51 billion, from 2.08 billion units valued at RM2.03 billion recorded yesterday.
Hermana Capital Bhd chief executive officer and chief investment officer Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said Asian equities strongly rebounded from earlier losses, showing some stabilisation as fears over a trade war between the United States and China subsides.
“The worry is over. It’s a sign of bottoming,” he said.
Nazri Khan said gains in banking stocks, following Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision to keep the overnight policy rate unchanged at 3.25 per cent, also partly contributed to the better performance today.
Of the heavyweights, IHH Healthcare perked seven sen to RM5.97, but Tenaga eased two sen to RM14.48, Petronas Chemicals slipped one sen to RM8.53, and Maxis shed three sen to RM5.37.
Among actives, MRCB improved 16 sen to 74 sen, George Kent bagged 30 sen to RM1.29, MyEG earned 6.5 sen to 86 sen, but Sapura Energy shed half-a-sen to 59 sen.
Malaysian Pacific Industries was the biggest gainer today, bagging 54 sen to RM10.70, while BAT topped the losers list falling RM1.00 to RM32.40. – BERNAMA
Get the latest World Cup 2018 scores, highlights and updates from our dedicated World Cup page