KUALA LUMPUR: Buying in index-linked telecommunication stocks lifted the FBM KLCI to close at its intraday high on Thursday.
At 5pm, the 30-stock index surged 28.23 points, or 1.92% to 1,495.49, its intraday high. The move is the biggest since rising 2.03% on Aug 24, 2021.
Market breadth turned positive as gainers outnumbered losers on a ratio of 663-to-293 stocks. Traded volumes stood at 2.64 billion shares worth RM2.1bil.
All indices on Bursa Malaysia closed higher. Bursa Malaysia Energy index, one of the gainers, rose 3.63% to 732.85 points.
In terms of fund flows, foreign investors were net sellers on Wednesday offloading RM91mil worth of equities.
Local institutions and retailers are net buyers with total purchases valued at RM24mil and RM66mil respectively.
In today’s session, 28 of the KLCI-component stocks closed lower while nine counters chalked up gains.
Axiata contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, rising 5.84%, or 17 sen to RM3.08.
Nestle rose RM1.70 to RM135.20, PPB added 78 sen to RM16.78 and Hong Leong Financial Group advanced 58 sen to RM19.44.
On the other hand, Public Bank, the biggest drag on the index, declined 0.22%, or one sen to RM4.61. Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell four sen to RM21.76.
On the broader market, Hengyuan rose 52 sen to RM5.81, Batu Kawan added 30 sen to RM24 while Allianz fell 14 sen to RM13.06 and Muda shed 13 sen to RM1.84.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.4720, up 0.3% against the US dollar.
The local currency was down 0.23% against the euro at 4.4727. It rose 0.09% against the pound sterling at 5.2979 and fell 0.05% against the Singapore dollar at 3.2205.
US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 24 cents to US$95.13 and Brent gained 48 cents to US$101.70 per barrel.
