Bursa Malaysia rallies above 1,770 level

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia outperformed Asian markets today fuelled by the year-end rally as several blue-chip stocks propelled the benchmark index to a 11.77 points gain upon market close.

At 5pm, the 30-stock index was up 11.77 points, or 0.66% to 1,771.76. The market traded within a range of 11.07 points between an intra-day high of 1,771.76 and a low of 1,760.69 during the session. 

Market breadth was positive with 578 gainers as compared to 334 losers while 393 counters were unchanged. Trading volume decreased to 2.31 billion shares worth RM1.99bil.

Interest in banking and oil and gas (O&G) stocks lifted the market, posting strong gains and boosting the overall KLCI.

At Bursa Malaysia, the top gainer was Hengyuan Refining that gained RM1.10 to RM16.50, its all-time high. Petron Malaysia Refining rose 82 sen to RM13.86 while Ajinomoto gained 40 sen to RM21.20. The decliners included PPB Group, Pharma and Dutch Lady. 

Movers in the KLCI component stocks included Petronas Chemicals which pushed the index up by 2.846. Petronas Chemicals rose 20 sen to RM7.80. Press Metal gained 23 sen to RM5.24 lifting the index higher by 1.568. Maybank added eight sen to RM9.55, nudging the index up by 1.534. 

Tenaga Nasional rose 14 sen to RM15.12, IHH Healthcare gained nine sen to RM5.92 while Genting gained 15 sen to RM9.15.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.08% to 22,911.21, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.07% to 29,597.66, South Korean’s Kospi advanced 0.38% to 2,436.67 while Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.4% to 3,391.67.

Oil prices on Wednesday remained near two-and-a-half year highs from the previous session as the market outlook for 2018 is relatively tight.

Reuters reported that U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at US$59.87 a barrel at 0754 GMT, down 10 cents from their last settlement. 

Brent crude futures were at US$66.80 a barrel, down 22 cents after breaking through US$67 for the first time since May 2015 the previous day.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that European tech stocks tumbled on Wednesday as the region emerged from a two-day trading holiday and investors reacted to reports that demand for Apple’s iPhone X may be weaker than expected.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped by 0.1%, reversing earlier gains as a downturn in the high-performing tech sector outweighed strong mining and oil stocks.