Wall Street surge lifts Bursa and key Asian markets

KUALA LUMPUR: Wall Street’s rally on US government’s move to roll out more stimulus measures saw key Asian markets and Bursa Malaysia climbing in early Friday trade.

At 9.11am, the KLCI was up 17.45 points or 1.31% to 1,345.54. Turnover was 361.12 million shares valued at RM159.11mil. There were 443 gainers, 72 losers and 112 counters unchanged.

Market confidence was also shored up by S&P Global Ratings’s affirmation of Malaysia 'A-/A-2' Foreign Currency and 'A/A-1' Local Currency Ratings with Outlook as Stable.

Reuters reported Asian stocks rose as investors wagered policymakers will roll out additional stimulus measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic after US unemployment filings surged to a record.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.0%. Australian shares were up 2.02%, while Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 3.65%. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.81% in Asia following three consecutive days of gains in the S&P 500 on Wall Street.

At Bursa on Thursday, local institutions were net buyers at RM102mil but retail investors were net sellers at RM10.7mil and foreign funds continued to reduce their stakes with net selling at RM91.3mil.

Heineken was the top gainer, up 98 sen to RM22.88 and Carlsberg added 80 sen to RM26 while BAT gained 29 sen to RM10.18.

HLFG gained 64 sen to RM13.68, Public Bank 36 sen to RM15.90 and LPI 34 sen to RM11.38.

KESM was up 33 sen to RM6.35 while CMSB rallied 16 sen to RM1.23 in active trade.

However, Allianz lost 20 sen to RM12.48 in thin trade.

Sapura Energy rose one sen to 8.5 sen in very active trade, AirAsia added 0.5 sen to 73.5 sen.

Earlier, S&P Global Ratings said its stable outlook reflected its expectation that Malaysia's strong external position, monetary flexibility, and well-established institutions will remain in place over the next two years.

“We may raise the sovereign credit ratings over the next 24 months if the economy expands considerably faster than our forecast, and in turn produces a fiscal performance that's better than we expected, reducing debt further than anticipated, ” S&P Global Ratings said.