KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia finished at its intra-day high for the second straight session on Thursday, driven by global optimism and the latest round of government fiscal aid that led investors to be back in the local market.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 10.53 points, or 0.69 per cent, to close at an intra-day high of 1,540.32, compared to Wednesday’s close of 1,529.79.
The index opened 1.26 points higher at 1,531.05 and moved between 1,529.71 and 1,540.32 throughout the trading session.
Gainers led losers in the broader market 502 to 474, while 496 counters were unchanged and 1,044 untraded, with seven suspended.
Turnover, however, slipped to 2.97 billion shares worth RM2.3 billion from 3.27 billion shares worth RM2.26 billion on Wednesday.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the FBM KLCI traded firmer buoyed by hopes that the worst of the tariff storm may be behind as the United States (US)-Japan deal, inked at 15 per cent, has the market betting that other trading partners, including Malaysia could secure similar outcomes, potentially keeping tariffs below the 20 per cent mark.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 56.63 points to 11,551.17, the FBMT 100 Index rose 60.40 points to 11,314.56, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 64.48 points to 11,580.96.
The FBM 70 Index added 14.78 points to 16,658.87, while the FBM ACE Index lost 22.54 points to 4,642.51.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 2.73 points to 158.16, the Plantation Index gained 58.52 points to 7,469.96, the Financial Services Index jumped 75.33 points to 17,505.58, but the Energy Index fell 4.50 points to 738.68.
The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.37 billion units valued at RM1.96 billion from 1.44 billion units valued at RM1.89 billion.
Warrant turnover trimmed to 1.24 billion units worth RM207.50 million from 1.52 billion units worth RM257.66 million previously.
The ACE Market volume improved to 362.14 million units worth RM131.90 million from 315.55 million units valued at RM97.33 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 220.6 million shares traded on the Main Market; industrial products and services (278.27 million), construction (97.53 million), technology (261.82 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (61.28 million), property (177.63 million), plantation (14.89 million), REITs (22.3 million), closed-end fund (nil), energy (64.42 million), healthcare (57.49 million), telecommunications and media (40.4 million), transportation and logistics (28.64 million), utilities (42.42 million), and business trusts (62,600). - Bernama
