KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended its winning streak to a fifth consecutive session on Tuesday, supported by gains in technology stocks and positive sentiment across most regional markets.
The FBM KLCI rose 6.93 points, or 0.4%, to an intraday high of 1,732.66 after rebounding from its intraday low of 1,722.78.
Market breadth was positive, with 621 gainers outpacing 482 decliners, while 581 counters closed unchanged. A total of 2.8 billion shares valued at RM2.82 billion changed hands.
Dealers said sentiment remained supported by gains in regional equities, while interest in technology-related counters provided additional impetus to the local bourse.
Technology and semiconductor counters led gains on Bursa Malaysia, with Malaysian Pacific Industries
rising 70 sen to RM46.52.
UMS Integration gained 21 sen to RM7.67, Dufu Technology added 16 sen to RM2.79 and Frontken advanced 14 sen to RM5.16.
Other gainers included F&N, which climbed 32 sen to RM27.82, Kuala Lumpur Kepong, up 32 sen to RM21.32, PETRONAS Dagangan, which rose 26 sen to RM19.70, and Sunway Construction, which added 25 sen to RM8.
Among the decliners, Nestle slid 90 sen to RM101.80, Hong Leong Industries fell 16 sen to RM17.84, United Plantations gave up 16 sen to RM34.05 and Gas Malaysia declined 12 sen to RM5.05.
Foreign investors were net sellers on Monday, offloading RM58mil worth of Malaysian equities.
Local institutions and retail investors were net buyers, with net purchases amounting to RM55mil and RM3mil, respectively.
Across the region, markets were mostly higher, led by gains in China and South Korea.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.32% to 63,957.53, while South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.62% to 6,358.95.
In China, the CSI300 Index advanced 1.27% to 4,600.93 and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.33% to 3,822.28.
However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.6% to 25,852.92, while Singapore's Straits Times Index was marginally lower, easing 0.01% to 5,611.75.
