Stronger GDP data supports KLCI

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia edged up on Friday as investor sentiment perked up on the better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) data released earlier.

At day’s end, the FBM KLCI index closed at 1,721.66, up 3.55 points, or 0.21% led by decline in Genting, Axiata, and CIMB. 

The index opened 2.70 points higher at 1,720.81. The market traded within a range of 5.82 points between an intra-day high of 1,725.69 and a low of 1,719.87 during the day.

In the broader market, there were 419 stocks advancing against 408 stocks declining while 419 counters unchanged. About 2.21 billion shares, valued at RM2.22bil, changed hands.

Malaysia’s economy grew 6.2% in the third quarter of 2017, up from 5.8% in the previous quarter, beating the median estimate of a 5.7% by 19 economists polled by Bloomberg. This higher growth was the fastest rate since second quarter 2014. 

Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim said the economy was on track to register strong growth in the upper end of the official target of 5.2%-5.7%.

Additionally, he said that the ringgit was now reflective of  the real economic activity and strength and no longer influenced by speculative play.

Muhammad said this was the success of the measures taken in March in tackling the offshore trading, which resulted in the ringgit being at a level which is quite strong and with more liquidity in the market.

The ringgit was quoted at 4.1640 against the greenback at 5pm, its strongest since October 2016.

At Bursa Malaysia, Genting Bhd rose the most, up 28 sen to RM9.20 and nudged the KLCI up 1.831 points. Axiata added 10 sen to RM5.28, KESM rose 24 sen to RM19.18 while United Plantations gained 20 sen to RM28.

Among the banks, Maybank rose one sen to RM9.22, CIMB added eight sen to RM6 and Public Bank fell six sen to RM20.38.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 0.2% higher to 22,396.80, the highest closing since Nov 10.  South Korea’s KOSPI was down 0.80 points or 0.03% at 2,533.99 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.6% to 29,199.04 points. 

China’s blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.4% to 4,120.85 points and the Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.5% to 3,382.91 points.