KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia finished Tuesday on a positive note, with some stocks reaching their limit highs, driven by positive sentiments.
Adding to the upbeat note, the ringgit strengthened to its highest level in about 20 months, further contributing to the positive market sentiment.
The ringgit was quoted at 4.2698, appreciating 0.73% against the US dollar. Earlier in the day, it had advanced 0.83% against the greenback, reaching its highest level since Feb 3, 2023.
The local unit also traded 0.59% higher against the Singapore dollar, at 3.3005, and 0.28% higher against the British pound, at 5.6431.
At the close, the FBM KLCI ended the day up by 12.13 points, or 0.73%, reaching 1,664.28 points, just slightly below its intraday high of 1,664.99
Stocks that rose outnumbered those that fell 658 to 433, with another 455 counters unchanged. A total of 3.2 billion shares changed hands, worth US$3.4bil million in all.
Daily gains among FBM KLCI constituents were observed at 20 counters, exceeding the four counters that experienced losses, while six counters remained unchanged.
Among the glove makers, Hartalega
surged 29.75%, or 72 sen, to RM3.14. Kossan added 22.95%, or 42 sen, to RM2.25, and Top Glove gained 24.59%, or 22.5 sen, to RM1.14.
HeiTech Padu surged 69 sen to RM2.99, Dutch Lady gained 52 sen to RM30.94 and PETRONAS Dagangan rose 38 sen to RM19.46.
On the other hand, Malaysian Pacific Industries tumbled RM1.12 to RM29.98, United Plantations slid 62 sen to RM26.80 and iCapital lost 14 sen to RM3.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia Securities has suspended the intraday short-selling (IDSS) for APB Resources due to a significant decline in its share prices, falling more than 15%.
APB tumbled 29.7%, or 30 sen to 71 sen with 4.27 million shares done.
Trading was thin in the region as markets in South Korea, China and Taiwan were closed for public holidays.
MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.56%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended down 1.03% at 36,203.22 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.37% to 17,660.02.
