Bursa Malaysia makes 4th straight wins

Stocks in Bursa Malaysia continued their winning streak Friday with the benchmark FBM KLCI gaining 12.02 points to close at 1120.90 points.

Elsewhere in the region, the Singapore Straits Times Index closed 27.41 points higher at 2,428.43 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 443.79 to 18,805.66 points. The Shanghai and Shenzhen Index added 6.00 and 8.01 points to 3,189.74 and 1,084.39 respectively. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 51.16 points higher at 9,395.32.

The market sentiment remained firm on Friday, boosted by strong performances on Wall Street overnight and other Asian markets. Investor sentiment has improved over the past few days as upbeat economic data and better-than-expected corporate earnings sparked a strong rally for the global stock market. This has made investors more confident of investing in equities again, as they are finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. Overall, strong buying interest was seen in index-linked stocks despite mild profit taking in selected second and lower liners following a three-day rally.

Sentiment on the local bourse stayed firm on Friday, July 17. The FBMKLCI opened on a stronger footing extending its gains from the last three trading days.

The benchmark index faltered slightly in the mid-morning, falling briefly into the red but recovered quickly to move back into positive territory.
Gains picked up momentum going into the mid-day break. The FBM KLCI held on to gains in the afternoon session, thanks to investor support in big cap blue chip stocks like BCHB, BAT, Tenaga Nasional, Genting, Public Bank and Maybank.

The Finance Index rose 1.38% to 9136.79 points, the Plantation Index added 0.46% to 5404.44 points and the Properties Index climbed 0.45% to 722.71 points. The market traded within a range of 17.81 points between an intra-day high of 1121.66 and a low of 1103.85 during the session.

Actively traded stocks include KNM, FRONTKN, AXIATA, JAKS, UEMLAND, COMPUGATES, TIME, GAMUDA, SAAG and KHSB. Trading volume declined to 939.34 mil shares worth RM1.45 bil as compared to Thursday's 1.67 bil shares worth RM2.14 bil.

Leading Movers were COMMERZ (+25 sen to RM9.95), MAYBANK (+15 sen to RM6.10), TENAGA (+20 sen to RM8.20), GENTING (+15 sen to RM5.75), and PUBLIC BANK (+10 sen to RM10.10).

Lagging Movers were PPB (-20 sen to RM12.30), TELEKOM (-2 sen to RM2.97), KLK (-10 sen to RM11.90), MMC (-4 sen to RM2.25) and TANJONG (-20 sen to RM14.20). Market breadth was positive with 295 gainers as compared to 277 losers. For the week, the benchmark FBM KLCI posted a gain of 4.98% or 53.14 points.