KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued its upward trend, closing higher yesterday due to positive market sentiment driven by stronger-than-expected macroeconomic data.
The bourse also benefitted from gains on Wall Street overnight and firmer regional markets.
The market was closed on Feb 17 and Feb 18 for the Chinese New Year holidays.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose by 10.85 points, or 0.62%, to 1,752.11 compared with Monday’s close of 1,741.26.
The benchmark index had opened 6.82 points higher at 1,748.08, and moved between 1,755.08 and 1,743.63 throughout the trading session.
The broader market was also positive with gainers thumping losers 748 to 288, while 483 counters were unchanged, 1,218 counters untraded, and 11 suspended.
Turnover was higher at 2.04 billion units, worth RM2.52bil, compared to 1.81 billion units, worth RM1.81bil, on Monday.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said most regional equity markets closed higher, reinforcing the constructive risk tone that carried into the local benchmark index.
