Bursa makes solid start to third quarter

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia made a solid start in the third quarter on Monday, as fears of an escalation in U.S.-China trade dispute eased, spurring a rally on the local bourse. 

At closing, the FBM KLCI closed 11.49 points, or 0.69% to 1,683.62, its highest since March this year. The move is the biggest since rising 0.83% on June 19. The 30-stock index opened 2.78 points to 1,674.91 this morning.

Market breadth was positive with gainers overwhelming losers 679 to 214, while 351 counters unchanged on Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 3.31 billion shares valued at RM2.18bil. 

Dealers said the positive momentum created by the US-China trade truce helped the local bourse climb higher today. 

The ringgit was down 0.08% against the US dollar at 4.1355. It gained 0.28% against the pound at 5.2267, advanced 0.52% against the euro at 4.6844 and advanced 0.11% against the Singapore dollar to 3.0532. 

On Bursa Malaysia, MPI was the top gainer, adding 60 sen to RM9.82. Petronas Chemicals, contributed to the index, increasing 34 sen to RM8.74 while LPI advanced 24 sen to RM16.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM8.91, Public Bank closed unchanged at RM23 and Tenaga Nasional ended 12 sen to RM13.96.

Of the actively-traded stocks, KNM added four sen 29.5 sen with 395.12 million shares traded and Bumi Armada gained one sen to 22.5 sen with 228.02 million shares done. 

Most stock markets in the region rose on Monday after the US and China agreed to resume trade talks. Japan’s Nikkei share average ended up 2.1% at 21,729.97 points, its best closing level since May 7.

China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 2.22% to 3,044.90 points. It was the highest close for the index since April 30. The blue-chip CSI300 index jumped 2.88% to its highest close since April 25,

Hong Kong markets were closed for a holiday in observance of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day.

South Korea’s KOSPI closed down 0.85 points or 0.04% at 2,129.77 points.