KUALA LUMPUR:Last-minute buying in selected
heavyweights pushed the local benchmark to close in positive territory today,
dealers said.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 5.22 points
higher at 1,877.05, after moving between 1,867.78 and 1,877.05 throughout
the day.
A dealer said most of the Southeast Asian stock markets rose today boosted
by strong reading of Chinese manufacturing data, which also lifted the broader
sentiment, while better-than-expected earnings bolstered shares of PT Bank
Central Asia Tbk and Big C Supercenter Pcl.
"China's factory sector expanded at its fastest pace in 18 months in July,
helping Asian stocks edge higher while investors in Indonesia appeared to shift
focus from the presidential election to solid quarterly corporate results," he
said.
Earlier this week, Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo was declared the winner of
the presidential election, putting to rest much speculation around the result in
the last few days.
On the scoreboard, the Finance Index dipped 62.9 points to 17,328.9, while
the Plantation Index advanced 36.58 points to 9,063.58 and the Industrial Index
rose 16.81 points to 3,247.88.
The FBM Emas Index improved 28.43 points to 13,102.28, FBMT100 Index added
29.14 points to 12,681.47, the FBM 70 gained 9.36 points to 14,379.6 and the
FBM Ace perked up 3.91 points to 7,058.66.
Losers led gainers by 436 to 425, with 338 counters unchanged, 436 untraded
and 13 others suspended.
Total volume decreased to 2.03 billion units valued at RM1.99 billion from
2.33 billion units valued at RM2.06 billion transacted on Wednesday.
-- Bernama