FBM KLCI CLOSES HIGHER AS BURSA PLAYS CATCH-UP TO REGIONAL, GLOBAL UPTREND

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s key index closed higher on Tuesday as the local bourse played catch-up to the regional and global uptrend a day after returning from the Deepavali break.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 9.65 points, or 0.60 per cent, to 1,616.83 from Friday’s close of 1,607.18.

The benchmark index opened 4.6 points firmer at 1,611.78 and moved between 1,609.02 and 1,617.15 throughout the trading session.

The broader market was positive with 779 gainers thumping 369 losers, while 496 counters were unchanged, 1,028 untraded, and 31 suspended.

However, turnover dropped to 3.68 billion units worth RM2.55 billion compared with 3.81 billion units worth RM3.03 billion on Friday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices extended their gains from yesterday as optimism grew over the potential easing of trade tensions between the United States and China.  This followed after US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that he could reach a fair trade agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On the domestic front, he said the local market appeared to be catching up with regional peers.

“Trading activity has picked up, indicating that investors are gradually re-entering the market after a round of profit-taking. Overall sentiment is turning more constructive, with the benchmark index maintaining stability above the 1,600 level. We expect the FBM KLCI to trade within the 1,600-1,630 range for the week,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweight counters, Maybank and CIMB added one sen each to RM9.90 and RM7.35, respectively. Public Bank gained seven sen to RM4.27, Tenaga Nasional was 14 sen firmer at RM13.24, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM8.30.

On the most active list, Tanco and Velesto added one sen each to 87 sen and 26 sen, respectively, while both EA Holdings and TWL were flat at half-a-sen and 2.5 sen, and HHRG fell half-a-sen to seven sen.

Top gainers included Nestle, which jumped RM4.50 to RM109.50, while Malaysian Pacific Industries gained 92 sen to RM29.84, and Petronas Dagangan added 32 sen to RM22.54. KSL bounced 28 sen to RM3.11.

Among the top decliners, Dutch Lady lost 38 sen to RM26.18, Malayan Cement fell 13 sen to RM6.57, and Binastra slid 10 sen to RM2.22. Cyberjaya Education was 8.5 sen weaker at 78 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index bounced 77.79 points to 12,082.70, the FBMT 100 Index chalked up 71.37 points to 11,813.39, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 100.18 points to 12,157.45.

The FBM 70 Index gained 106.99 points to 17,114.93, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 32.54 points to 5,311.43.

By sector, the Financial Services Index widened 61.04 points to 18,253.48, the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 0.33 of a point to 171.38, and the Energy Index added 3.35 points to 792.28. The Plantation Index grew 41.21 points to 7,902.07.

The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.68 billion units valued at RM2.21 billion from 2.24 billion units valued at RM2.69 billion on Friday.

Warrant turnover expanded to 1.58 billion units worth RM189.80 million compared with 1.07 billion units worth RM116.62 million.

The ACE Market volume fell to 425.07 million units valued at RM145.50 million from 497.93 million units valued at RM216.54 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 376.41 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (354.02 million), construction (93.25 million), technology (290.65 million), financial services (53.10 million), property (219.92 million), plantation (25.36 million), real estate investment trusts (13.64 million), closed-end fund (12,600), energy (110.08 million), healthcare (80.53 million), telecommunications and media (24.14 million), transportation and logistics (14.96 million), utilities (22.46 million), and business trusts (29,500).

-- BERNAMA