At 5pm, the KLCI was up 3.82 points or 0.24% to 1,571.16, but off the day's high of 1,579 due to late profit taking ahead of the weekend.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia and Asian markets cheered Britain's Brexit-backing Conservative Party's victory and prospects of a China-US trade deal.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 3.82 points or 0.24% to 1,571.16, but off the day's high of 1,579 due to late profit taking ahead of the weekend.
Turnover was 2.94 billion shares valued at RM2.51bil. There were 493 gainers, 390 losers and 364 counters unchanged.
Ekovest and Iskandar Waterfront City shares rallied in active trade on reports that IWH CREC consortium, a joint venture between Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) and China Railway Group Ltd (CREC), will hold a signing ceremony for the Bandar Malaysia development on Tuesday.
China's yuan rallied to a 4-1/2-month high against the US dollar while mainland and Hong Kong stock markets soared on reports the United States and China had agreed to reduce existing tariffs and delay ones set to take effect this weekend, Reuters reported.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rallied 2.57%, Nikkei 225 2.55%, Shanghai Composite 1.78%, Taiwan's Taiex 0.77% and South Korea's Kospi 1.54% and Singapore's STI added 0.61%.
The ringgit rallied against the US dollar, up 0.55% to 4.1380, taking its cue from the firmer yuan. China's yuan rallied to a 4-1/2-month high against the US dollar, according to reports. However, the local unit fell 0.98% against the pound sterling to 5.5472.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party won a commanding majority in Parliament, giving him the power to deliver Brexit, though trade talks with the European Union were set to drag on for months yet, Reuters reported.
At Bursa, Ekovest rallied 9.5 sen to 90.5 sen and it was the most active with 323.22 million shares done while IWCity jumped 11.5 sen to RM1.02 with 109.49 million units traded.
US light crude oil rose 48 cents to US$59.66 and Brent advanced 68 cents to US$64.88.
Petronas Gas rose 54 cents to RM16.94, adding 1.88 points to KLCI. Petronas Chemicals' 17 sen to RM7.20 lifted the KLCI by 2.4 points. but Petronas Dagangan lost 24 sen to RM23.54. Dialog edged up three sen to RM3.44.
CIMB rose seven sen to RM5.25 and gave the KLCI a 1.22 point boost, Hong Leong Bank gained 26 sen to RM17.02, Maybank three sen to RM8.54, IOI Corp was flat at RM4.58 while Public Bank was down four sen to RM18.92 and AmBank three sen lower at RM3.79.
MAHB fell the most, down 34 sen to RM7.55 and erased nearly one point as it extended its losses.
Tenaga and IHH added four sen each to RM13.18 and RM5.40, GentingM one sen to RM3.20 while Sime Darby shed three sen to RM2.30 and MISC eight sen lower to RM8.33.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery fell RM15 to RM2,879 at 5.07pm but off the day's high of RM2,928.
Batu Kawan, the major shareholder of KL Kepong, rose 40 sen to RM17, United Plantations 38 sen to RM26.18, Sime Plantation three sen to RM5.33, KL Kepong and IOI Corp were flat at RM24.70 and RM4.58 and PPB Gruoup two sen lower at RM18.38. Genting Plantation gave up some recent gains, falling 24 sen to RM10.40.
Chip maker Unisem rallied 18 sen to RM2.39 and Heitech Padu 25 sen to RM1.17.
