KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the day on a firmer note, as fund buying of blue chips shore up the FBM KLCI while market sentiment was also boosted by the China-US trade talks and a wave of policy easing by central banks.
At 5pm, the 30-stock index was nearly flat to close at 1,666.54 points, up 13.78 point, or 0.83%. The key index kicked off the day firmer, opening 1.81 points higher at 1,654.57 this morning. The market traded within a range of 14.32 points between an intra-day high of 1,666.90 and a low of 1,652.58 during the session.
On the broader market, gainers outnumber losers 474 to 330 with 404 counters unchanged. Turnover stood at 2.33 billion shares worth RM2.12bil.
Dealers said expectations of a worldwide wave of policy easing by central banks helped lifted investors’ optimism.
In addition, China and the United States are rekindling trade talks ahead of a meeting next week between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, cheering financial markets on hopes that an escalating trade war between the two countries would abate.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was higher by 1.8%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.72% to 21,333.87.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.3% to 3,715.94 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.0% to 2,917.80, paring morning gains.
Reuters reported that Hong Kong stocks on Wednesday posted their best session since November 2018. The Hang Seng index rose 2.6% to 28,202.14, while the China Enterprises Index gained 2.5% to 10,764.70.
The Seoul stock market’s main KOSPI closed up 26.08 points or 1.24% at 2,124.79 points, marking its highest close since early May.
Top gainers on Bursa Malaysia included Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd
, which jumped 58 sen to RM8.51, Tenaga Nasional Bhd gained 28 sen to RM13.28 and Heineken Malaysia advanced 26 sen to RM23.36.
The decliners included Hong Leong Bank, which shed 30 sen to RM18.96, Bintulu Port fell 23 sen to RM4.75 and Southern Acids declined 16 sen to RM3.79.
Among the banks, Maybank rose one sen to RM8.94, CIMB added three sen to RM5.26, Public Bank advanced six sen to RM23.10 and RHB Bank fell nine sen to RM5.51.
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