Bulls Dominate As Bursa Malaysia Ends At Over 5-month High

By Zarul Effendi Razali

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia maintained its upward momentum to end the week higher, briefly breaching the 1,600 key level during the early session, driven by persistent buying in selected heavyweights, led by telecommunications and media, as well as industrial products and services counters, a dealer said.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.60 points, or 0.29 per cent, to settle at 1,597.47, the highest level in over five months, from Thursday’s close of 1,592.87.

The benchmark index opened 0.93 of-a-point firmer at 1,593.80, and moved between 1,593.42, its intraday low, and hit a high of 1,603.19 during the mid-morning session.

The broader market was positive with advancers leading decliners 561 to 428, while 526 counters were unchanged, 1,079 untraded and 12 suspended. 

Turnover narrowed to 2.63 billion units worth RM2.70 billion from 2.67 billion units worth RM2.87 billion on Thursday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI ended higher supported by strong corporate earnings.

“Major Asian indices closed higher despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as fresh funds continued to flow into the region—particularly into developed markets—driven by stronger regional growth,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the key index extended its rally today, breaching the 1,600 level during the morning session and reached an intraday high of 1,603.19 – a level last seen on February 12 this year.

“While momentum moderated slightly in the afternoon, the benchmark index remained firmly in positive territory. Gains were led by telecommunications, consumer, and industrial counters, underscoring sectoral breadth in the advance,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank gained 2.0 sen each to RM9.80 and RM4.47, respectively, CIMB added 1.0 sen to RM7.46, IHH Healthcare went up 3.0 sen to RM6.84, while Tenaga Nasional slipped 8.0 sen to RM13.56.

Of the most active counters, Tanco eased half-a-sen to 73.5 sen, Zetrix AI perked up 2.0 sen to 89.5 sen, while TWL Holdings and SFP Tech were flat at 2.5 sen and 15.5 sen, respectively.

Across the broader market, the FBM Emas Index increased 33.65 points to 11,834.56, the FBMT 100 Index improved 28.74 points to 11,611.17, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 43.49 points to 11,761.42, the FBM 70 Index garnered 20.18 points to 16,556.40, and the FBM ACE Index jumped 35.29 points to 4,743.62.

By sector, the Financial Services Index gained 38.81 points to 18,222.96, the Plantation Index advanced 1.87 points to 7,608.39, the Industrial Products and Services Index perked up 1.66 points to 165.33, while the Energy Index slipped 1.79 points to 748.94.

The Main Market volume slid to 1.50 billion units valued at RM2.47 billion from Thursday’s 1.55 billion units valued at RM2.65 billion.

Warrants turnover declined to 675.98 million units worth RM93.19 million from 688.24 million units worth RM86.01 million previously.

The ACE Market volume increased to 460.91 million units worth RM138.92 million from 424.96 million units worth RM132.02 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 260.99 million shares traded on the Main Market; industrial products and services (253.21 million), construction (135.87 million), technology (212.84 million), financial services (110.91 million), property (12.22 million), plantation (22.81 million), REITs (20.84 million), closed-end fund (43,700), energy (100.67 million), healthcare (46.53 million), telecommunications and media (37.59 million), transportation and logistics (30.01 million), utilities (43.27 million), and business trusts (15,100).

-- BERNAMA