Gloves lift KLCI higher as Covid-19 cases spike

KUALA LUMPUR: Glove makers underpinned the FBM KLCI’s advance following the surge of Covid-19 cases amid a positive market sentiment.

Malaysia’s Covid-19 cases continued to climb, as the country reported a record 11,034 infections on Monday.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI added 7.89 points, or 0.52% to 1,530.65.

On the overall market, gainers continued to dominate at 539 versus 383 losers, while 408 counters were unchanged. Turnover stood at 3.08 billion shares valued at RM2.3bil.

Dealers said healthcare counters, especially the glove makers, may come under limelight amid surging daily Covid-19 cases.

Bursa Malaysia’s healthcare index gained the most in terms of percentage among the indices today. The index rose 70.28 points, or 3.25% to 2,232.74.

Hartalega added 23 sen to RM5.83, Top Glove gained 18 sen to RM2.35 and Adventa climbed 15 sen to RM1.11.

Kossan rose eight sen to RM1.91, Supermax advanced four sen to RM1.30 and Careplus gained 8.5 sen to RM1.03.

Among the top gainers on Bursa Malaysia, Chin Tek gained 30 sen to RM7.30, PMB Technology added 30 sen to RM15.86, Hong Seng rose 23 sen to RM3 and Aeon Credit advanced 20 sen to RM14.82.

F&N fell 34 sen to RM24.12, Dutch Lady lost 30 sen to RM32.28 and Heineken eased 24 sen to RM20.12.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.025%, South Korea’s Kospi closed down 0.19% and Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.79%.