KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI closed above the psychological 1,500-point level on Wednesday, tracking upbeat sentiment across regional markets amid encouraging external cues.
The upbeat mood followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks, easing market concerns, as he assured that he does not intend to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and that tariffs on China will be "nowhere near" the current 145%.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 14.94 points, or 1.01%, to 1,501.19 — its intraday high and the highest level in over two weeks. The index touched an intraday low of 1,493.26. All indices ended higher, except the Bursa Malaysia Plantation Index.
Market breadth was positive with 716 securities ending in the green versus 264 that closed weaker. Trading volume stood at almost three billion units worth RM2.1bil.
Malaysian Pacific Industries
, the biggest gainer on Bursa Malaysia, jumped 80 sen to RM15.64, PPB Group added 32 sen to RM12.02, PETRONAS Chemicals gained 22 sen to RM3.30 and SAM Engineering climbed 22 sen to RM3.52.
Among the decliners, Ideal Capital slid 20 sen to RM3.80, United Plantations lost 14 sen to RM22.84, Heineken fell 14 sen to RM26.22 and Oriental declined 13 sen to RM6.94.
In terms of fund flows, foreign investors offloaded RM105mil worth of equities on Tuesday, while local institutions and retailers emerged as net buyers at RM40mil and RM65mil respectively.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.3968 against the US dollar, down 0.22%, while it gained 0.21% to 3.3522 against the Singapore dollar.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was higher by 1.97%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.89% to 34,868.63 while South Korea’s Kospi closed up 1.57% at 2,525.56.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 2.37% to 22,072.62.
China’s CSI 300 Index rose 0.08% to 3,786.88 while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1% to 3,296.36.
