KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed higher yesterday, boosted by persistent buying in selected blue chips.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM) KLCI rose 9.04 points or 0.58 per cent to 1,561.93 after opening 3.94 points higher at 1,556.83.
Dealers said the market started the day on a positive note as investors took the cue from overnight gains on Wall Street.
They said positive corporate developments also spurred buying interest in the local market.
The Plantation Index surged 105.86 points to 7,869.64, the Finance Index gained 99.70 points to 14,264.27 and the Industrial Index added 2.05 points to 2,842.78.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Emas Index rose 56.62 points to 10,755.67 and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Mid 70 Index increased 21.20 points to 11,522.13 but the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Ace Index fell 27.34 points to 4,345.69.
Gainers led losers 441 to 352 while 323 counters were unchanged, 327 untraded and 52 others suspended.
Turnover was marginally higher at 1.575 billion shares worth RM2.283 billion from 1.572 billion shares worth RM2.066 billion yesterday.
OSK Research maintained its bullish bias view towards the near-term market, expecting the benchmark index to test the 1,577-point level in the near future.
“The two major tests at the 1,474-point level in February and March indicate that the benchmark has great desire to bounce off this key support level and should resume its uptrend once the current consolidation phase ends,” it said.
Topping the most active list was MAA Holdings which gained 18 sen to RM1.38, followed by Perisai Petroleum which added half a sen to 87.0 sen.
Karambunai inched up one sen to 22.5 sen and SAAG Consolidated was up half a sen to 10.5 sen.
Goldis ended the day at RM1.86, rose 29 sen from yesterday’s closing of RM1.57.
The counter was among the top gainers as investors reacted positively to its proposal to dispose its entire 78.15 per cent stake in Hoepharma Holdings Sdn Bhd to Taisho Pharmaceutical Co Ltd for RM289 million.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank rose five sen to RM9.20, CIMB gained four sen to RM8.32, Petronas Chemicals advanced six sen to RM7.53 and IOI Corp was 17 sen higher at RM5.72.
Volume on the Main Market increased to 1.290 billion shares worth RM2.213 billion from 1.243 billion shares worth RM1.998 billion yesterday.
Warrants rose to 165.989 million units valued at RM39.565 million from 140.210 million units valued at RM33.265 million previously.
Turnover on the ACE Market, however, declined to 109.044 million shares worth RM27.892 million compared with 181.210 million shares valued at RM32.896 million on Wednesday.
Consumer products accounted for 70.651 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products 260.920 million, construction 65.564 million, trade and services 436.797 million, technology 58.166 million, infrastructure 28.005 million, finance 141.164 million, hotels 1.329 million, properties 168.032 million, plantations 50.035 million, mining 77,400, REITs 8.685 million and closed/fund 259,700. — Bernama
KLCI FUTURES – THE FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed higher yesterday in line with a steadier cash market.
At close, April 2011 rose 6.5 points to 1,560.0, May 2011 increased 9.5 points to 1,560.5, June 2011 gained eight points to 1,559.5 and September 2011 added seven points to 1,558.5.
Turnover, however, declined to 4,857 lots
from 5,497 lots yesterday while open interests improved to 21,097 contracts from 20,102 contracts previously.
On the cash market, the FBM KLCI gained 9.04 points to 1,561.93. — Bernama
CURRENCY – THE ringgit ended slightly lower against the US dollar, after advancing earlier in the day, ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting later yesterday, dealer said.
At 5pm, the ringgit was quoted at 3.0265/0285 from 3.0240/0260 yesterday.
Dealers said some greenback short covering was noted towards the end of the trading day and any monetary policy decision taken by the ECB could indirectly impact Malaysia.
“A positive decision from the meeting will strengthen the Euro against the US dollar, which could also lead to a stronger ringgit against the greenback,” a dealer said.
The ringgit was traded mostly lower against other major currencies.
The domestic unit weakened against the Singapore dollar to 2.4016/4046, from 2.3985/3020, yesterday, but appreciated against the yen to 3.5489/5525 from 3.5593/5629.
It also eased against the euro to 4.3252/3301 from 4.3210/3242 yesterday and was lower against the British pound at 4.9441/9483 from yesterday’s 4.9207/9248. — Bernama
RUBBER PRICES – THE Malaysian rubber market closed slightly higher yesterday, extending gains for the third straight day today with the market undertone remaining very steady, a dealer said.
“Lingering supply concerns due to flood in Thailand and rising oil prices were able to support the commodity’s price from coming down despite traders getting cautious due to the current higher SMR 20 price,” he said.
At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 rose 0.5 sen to 1,573.5 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk added three sen to 1,098 sen per kg.
The unofficial sellers’ closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 went down 3.5 sen to 1,571.5 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk rose one sen to 1,0987 sen per kg.—Bernama
TIN– THE Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) rose to a five-week high yesterday, up US$340 to US$32,100 per tonne, on low offerings, a dealer said.
“Demand was strong but sellers refused to sell.
They only covered less than a quarter of the demand, in waiting for prices to increase further,” he said. On the London Metal Exchange (LME), the metal price increased US$490 to US$32,100 per tonne.
Bids on the KLTM amounted to 105 tonnes, compared to offers of only 25 tonnes. Overall turnover rose to 55 tonnes from 46 tonnes yesterday, with European, Japanese and local players accounting for today’s trading.
The price differential between the KLTM and the LME, however, narrowed to a premium of US$450 per tonne from yesterday’s US$615 per tonne.— Bernama
KLIBOR – THE three-month Kuala Lumpur Inter-Bank Offered Rate (Klibor) futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed untraded yesterday.
At 11am fixing, the underlying three-month Klibor remained at 3.07 per cent.
The five-year Malaysia Government Securities (MGS) futures were also not transacted on lack of buying interest. — Bernama
MONEY MARKET- SHORT-TERM rates closed on stable note yesterday with Bank Negara Malaysia
(BNM) continuing to intervene in the money market to absorb surplus funds, dealers said.
Liquidity surplus in the conventional system was reduced to RM21.46 billion from an earlier estimate of RM32.95 billion.
In the Islamic system, the surplus was reduced to RM7.58 billion from an earlier estimate of RM13.18 billion.
BNM also called for a late tender of RM21.4 billion in the conventional system and a RM7.5 billion Al-Wadiah tender, both one-day money.
The overnight rate was unchanged at 2.72 per cent while the one-, two- and three-week rates were pegged at 2.75 per cent, 2.77 per cent and 2.79 per cent respectively. — Bernama