KUALA LUMPUR: The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended higher today, driven by persistent buying interest in heavyweights on increased expectations of a delay in US interest rates hike due to dissapointing US jobs data. At 5 pm, the key index FBM KLCI rose 18.79 points or 1.15 per cent to 1,647.59, after moving between 1,629.15 and 1,647.59 throughout the day.
Positive performance in the local market was also in tandem with its regional peers.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.58 per cent to 18,005.49, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 1.62 per cent to 21,854.50 and Singapore’s Straits Times rose 2.08 per cent to 2,851.25.
On the home front, market breadth was positive with gainers thumping losers by 601 to 236, while 304 counters were unchanged, 657 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Volume increased to 1.91 billion shares valued at RM1.86 billion from 1.34 billion shares valued at RM1.70 last Friday.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank rose 15 sen to RM8.60, Public Bank expanded 38 sen to RM18.18, Petronas Gas gained 26 sen to RM22.40 and Genting Malaysia added 16 sen to RM4.27.
Among the actives, XOX rose 3.5 sen to 12.5 sen, The Media Shoppe edged up half-a-sen to 11.5 sen, Instacom added 3.5 sen to 21 sen while AirAsia and Frontken both went up one sen to RM1.27 and 17 sen respectively.
On the scoreboard, the FBM 70 improved 62.98 points to 12,358.91 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 126.03 points to 12,077.66.
The FBM Ace shot up 140.55 points to 5,687.7, FBM Emas Index garnered 114.03 points to 11,365.23 and the FBMT100 Index was up 110.08 points to 11,077.39.Sector-wise, the Finance Index appreciated 177.35 points to 14,121.76, Industrial Index perked 31.99 points to 3,219.7 and the Plantation Index improved 23.45 points to 7,326.62. -- Bernama