KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia snapped three days of losses to close higher today on renewed buying interest as the over-reaction to the national debt level eases, despite the mixed performance by regional peers, dealers said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed at 1,797.40, up 21.74 points from Thursday's close of 1,775.66.
The index opened 17.14 points higher at 1,792.82 and moved between 1,785.12 and 1,897.81 throughout the day.
Hermana Capital Bhd's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said investors heaved a sigh of relief at the over reaction rally today after the market sank on concerns over the national debt level of about RM1 trillion.
“The statement from the Chinese investors recently saying that they are confident and looking forward to continue their businesses under the new government has also provided some support to the market and this would likely continue into next week,” he told Bernama today.
On the regional front, another dealer said Asian markets were traded mixed in the early session today due to fresh concerns after the US President Donald Trump cancelled his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Among heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM10.26, Public Bank jumped 56 sen to RM24.92, TNB rose 28 sen to RM15.04, CIMB gained seven sen to RM6.12 while Petronas Chemicals slipped two sen to RM8.32.
Among actives, NETX and Sapura energy earned half-a-sen each to three sen and 69.5 sen, respectively, YTL Power added 5.5 sen to 80.5 sen, while MyEG slipped three sen to 76.5 sen and Berjaya Corp eased half-a-sen to 30 sen.
Market breadth was positive with gainers trouncing losers 506 to 397, with 407 counters unchanged, 597 untraded and 26 others suspended.
Volume decreased to 2.20 billion units valued at RM2.95 billion from Thursday’s 2.87 billion units valued at RM3.86 billion.