KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended its gains for a second straight session on Friday, tracking a broad regional rally as easing U.S. rate hike expectations lifted investor sentiment.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI climbed 17.22 points, or 1.04%, to close at 1,679.05 after touching an intraday high of 1,682.62. The benchmark index gained 0.7% for the week.
Market breadth improved, with gainers outpacing decliners 649 to 388, while trading volume totalled 2.82 billion shares valued at RM1.94bil.
Dealers said buying interest was broad-based as investors took cues from the strong performance across regional markets after softer-than-expected U.S. jobs data eased concerns over further Federal Reserve rate hikes.
They added that gains in heavyweight plantation, banking and consumer stocks helped lift the benchmark index.
Among the gainers, F&N jumped 88 sen to RM28.98, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 74 sen to RM21.70, Batu Kawan added 54 sen to RM21.64 and Hong Leong Bank climbed 48 sen to RM21.82.
In contrast, Nestle slid 80 sen to RM91.20, United Plantations fell 36 sen to RM33.12, Malaysian Pacific Industries
lost 28 sen to RM47.78 and Panasonic Manufacturing declined 11 sen to RM5.89.
ACE Market debutant Eckem closed unchanged at 12 sen after touching an intraday high of 13 sen. It was the second most actively traded counter, with 82.1 million shares changing hands.
On the forex market, the ringgit strengthened 0.26% against the US dollar to 4.0700. The local currency also edged up 0.01% versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1534.
Reuters reported that the U.S. dollar was on track for its steepest weekly fall in 12 weeks, as softer U.S. jobs data cooled Fed rate hike expectations and eased pressure on the yen.
Meanwhile, foreign investors remained net sellers on Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, offloading RM145mil worth of equities, while local institutions and retail investors were net buyers, purchasing RM42mil and RM103mil worth of shares, respectively.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan index climbed 2.43%, with most major regional markets closing higher:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 1.47% to 69,744.07;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.28% to 23,350.03;
China’s CSI300 Index added 0.62% to 4,842.17;
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.08% to 46,780.62;
South Korea’s Kospi surged 5.76% to 8,088.34 and;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.26% to 5,230.87 points.
