KUALA LUMPUR: Persistent buying in selected heavyweights, spurred by data showing a rebound in China’s manufacturing sector, lifted Bursa Malaysia at Tuesday’s close.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended at 1,632.83, up 4.17 points from yesterday’s close of 1,628.66.
The index opened 5.17 points higher at 1,633.83 and moved between 1,630.98 and 1,639.32 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbering decliners 433 to 363, while 444 counters remained unchanged, 616 were untraded and 29 others were suspended.
Volume increased to 2.76 billion units worth RM1.97 billion from 2.63 billion units also worth RM1.97 billion.
A dealer said the local bourse erased yesterday’s losses following the encouraging data that showed China’s manufacturing activity had returned to growth after three months of contraction.
“In fact, purchasing managers’ indices across Asia are showing improved numbers. This, coupled with the uptrend in the US stock market and higher crude oil prices, also influenced the (stock) markets,” he said.
Among others, the finance-related counters received strong buying interests today, pushing up the index.
Public Bank jumped 22 sen to RM22.70, CIMB gained four sen to RM5.12, Hong Leong increased eight sen to RM20.60 and Maybank added five sen to RM9.25. They contributed 3.41 points to the composite index.
The higher crude oil price, which is trading at US$69.42 per barrel (up by 0.59 per cent), also provided support to the oil and gas-linked companies on the exchange.
As for other heavyweights, PetChem fell two sen to RM9.10, Tenaga shed four sen to RM12.58 and IHH lost 1.5 sen to RM5.42, but Maxis was 16 sen higher at RM5.53.
Among actives, Sapura Energy and Hibiscus Petroleum rose one sen each to 35.3 sen and RM1.10, respectively, while Perdana Petroleum added 1.5 sen to 28.5 sen and Dynaciate inched up half-a-sen to nine sen.