KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia maintained its positive momentum to finish higher yesterday and above the key psychological level of 1,600, supported by persistent buying in utilities and industrial blue chips, says an analyst.
At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI rose 6.79 points or 0.43% to 1,602.99 compared with Monday’s close of 1,596.20.
The market bellwether opened 0.44 of-a-point firmer at 1,596.64, its intraday low, and steadily moved to its intraday high of 1,603.89 in the late afternoon session.
The broader market turned positive towards the end of trading, with gainers outpacing decliners 500 to 428, while 533 counters were unchanged, 962 untraded, and nine suspended.
Turnover slid to 2.01 billion units valued at RM1.54bil from 2.37 billion units valued at RM2.04bil on Monday.
UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors’ head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI’s gains were predominantly led by utilities and industrial stocks, with 24 of the index’s constituents recording increases, while only two posted declines.
“The rally appeared to be largely fuelled by year-end window-dressing activities as institutional investors reposition their portfolios to enhance performance metrics ahead of the year-end.
“However, overall market activity was subdued, with trading volume only at 2.01 billion shares as many investors took an early break ahead of the Christmas holiday today,” he told Bernama. Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries are closed today in conjunction with Christmas Day.
Among heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd
was flat at RM10.08, Public Bank Bhd gained three sen to RM4.55, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose two sen to RM7.97.
Meanwhile, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and YTL Power International Bhd both put on eight sen to RM14.08 and RM4.19 respectively and IHH Healthcare Bhd added five sen to RM7.08.
For active stocks, Winstar Capital Bhd rose 3.5 sen to 64 sen, Vanzo Holdings Bhd and JCY International Bhd perked up 1.5 sen each to 18 sen and 52.5 sen respectively, Life Water Bhd bagged seven sen to 93 sen, while Sarawak Cable Bhd lost one sen to 14 sen.
