Bursa records second-highest volume ever

Bursa gallery

PETALING JAYA: Trading volume on Bursa Malaysia surged to a high of more than nine billion shares once again in what seemed to be a bullish trading day, which saw the benchmark FBM KLCI extending its gains for the third consecutive day.

A total of 9.23 billion units of shares were traded yesterday, the second-highest volume ever seen on the local bourse, at a value of RM3.87bil.

The value was noticeably lower than Thursday’s RM4.04bil although it only had a lower volume of 7.01 billion units because penny stocks and warrants dominated the most active list yesterday.

Trading volume had earlier hit its all-time high on Wednesday at a record 9.59 billion shares.

Out of the top-50 most actively traded yesterday, 31 were penny stocks while seven were warrants.

A proprietary trader said this was due to the high speculative interest in a bid to make quick money.

KNM Group Bhd, which closed 20% higher at 18 sen, was the highest traded counter yesterday with a volume of 673.29 million shares.

Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd came in second with a volume of 487.51 million. It edged up by 12.62% to close at 58 sen.

Most oil and gas (O&G)-related counters ended the day higher yesterday amidst improving sentiment on the back of an increasing demand in crude oil from China and also due to the commitment by Saudi Arabia and Russia to stabilise oil markets in a joint statement on Wednesday.

They had engaged in an oil price war in March, which amplified the downfall of stock markets globally which have been battered by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

As at press time, oil prices rose with Brent gaining 47 cents to US$31.60 per barrel while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 37 cents to US$27.93.

Meanwhile, the FBM KLCI finally finished above its resistance level of 1,400 points after struggling for half a month at the 1,300-point level.

The benchmark index closed at 1,403.44 points, increasing by 6.19 points or 0.44% after 21 of its constituents extended their gains while seven declined and two remained unchanged.

The index had earlier hit an intra-day high of 1,411.08 points.

Dialog Group Bhd was the top gainer, up 3.3% to RM3.44 while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd rose 2.96% to RM5.56.

Among plantation counters, PPB Group Bhd added 2.67% or 43 sen to RM16.54 while Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd was up 34 sen or 1.72% to RM20.16.

Across the board, market breadth was positive with 592 advancers as compared to 316 losers while 387 remain unchanged.

Across the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and the Shanghai Composite Index both fell 0.1%.

Singapore’s STI rose 0.05% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi increased by 0.62% and 0.12%, respectively.