KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia reclaimed the 1,700 level on Tuesday after Monday’s steep sell-off as easing oil prices and optimism that the Middle East conflict could end soon lifted sentiment.
The benchmark FBM KLCI rose 27.51 points, or 1.64%, to 1,701.68 after moving between an intraday high of 1,703.61 and a low of 1,684.85.
Gainers outpaced losers 929 to 383, while 361 counters were unchanged. About 3.6 billion shares, valued at RM3.75bil, changed hands.
On Bursa Malaysia, Malaysian Pacific Industries
emerged as the top gainer, surging RM1.50 to RM30.54, followed by Nestle, which rose RM1.40 to RM104. Allianz added 80 sen to RM21.30, while Hong Leong Bank gained 68 sen to RM22.98.
Among the decliners, United Plantations fell 44 sen to RM31.26, Hengyuan dropped 41 sen to RM1.49, Hibiscus slid 28 sen to RM2.11 and MISC declined 27 sen to RM8.46.
US President Donald Trump on Monday said the US and Israel were making significant progress in their war on Iran and could end the conflict “very soon”, helping curb the recent surge in oil prices.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that oil prices fell after hitting a more than three-year high in the previous session as Trump signalled the conflict could end soon, easing fears of prolonged supply disruptions.
Brent crude fell US$8.12, or 8.21%, to US$90.84 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped US$7.96, or 8.4%, to US$86.81 per barrel.
Dealers said market optimism improved following easing oil prices and hopes that tensions in the Middle East could de-escalate soon.
They added that the local bourse also tracked stronger regional markets as investors returned to equities after the previous session’s sharp sell-off.
According to Bursa Malaysia data, foreign investors disposed of RM168mil worth of equities on Monday.
Local institutions and retailers, on the other hand, bought equities worth RM68mil and RM100mil respectively.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 3.3%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 2.88% to 54,248.39 while South Korea’s Kospi surged 5.35% to 5,532.59.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 2.17% to 25,959.90. China’s CSI300 index gained 1.28% to 4,674.76 while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.65% to 4,123.14.
