KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended its winning streak to a fifth straight session on Wednesday, lifted by blue-chip gains amid mixed regional sentiment.
The FBM KLCI rose 8.68 points, or 0.56%, to 1,550.21, its highest level since May 20, and its biggest gain since a 0.92% rise on June 23.
Gainers outpaced decliners 531 to 442, while 498 counters were unchanged. A total of 3.1 billion shares changed hands, with a total turnover of RM2.4bil.
Malaysian Pacific Industries
led the gainers, rising RM1 to RM22.40. PETRONAS Dagangan followed, adding 44 sen to RM21.70, while Heineken gained 28 sen to RM25.50 and PETRONAS Gas rose 26 sen to RM17.76.
Among the decliners, Tenaga Nasional lost 30 sen to RM14.60, Peterlabs fell 10 sen to 35 sen, Kuala Lumpur Kepong slid 10 sen to RM20.98 and Amway declined nine sen to RM5.01.
Newly listed on the ACE Market, ASM Automation slipped 0.5 sen, or 2.94%, to 16.5 sen, with 51.43 million shares changing hands.
Meanwhile, foreign investors continued to buy into local stocks on Tuesday, acquiring RM107mil worth of equities.
Local institutions and retailers sold equities worth RM23mil and RM84mil, respectively.
On the forex market, the ringgit weakened 0.66% to 4.2257 against the US dollar, retreating after a nine-month high in the previous session.
The local unit also slipped 0.4% to 3.3167 against the Singapore dollar.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was higher by 0.14%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.56% lower at 39,762.48 while South Korea’s Kospi closed down 0.47%, at 3,075.06.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.62% to 24,221.41. China’s CSI 300 edged up 0.02% to 3,943.68, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.08% to 3,454.79.
