FBM KLCI ends Friday 0.6% higher

Stocks in Bursa Malaysia ended higher for the second consecutive day, gaining 7 points to 1208.28 points, led by banking stocks, as persistent buying on selected heavyweights pushed the benchmark FBM KLCI higher.

The overall market sentiment remained firm in the short-term after data showed the Industrial Production Index shrunk at a slower pace in July, while rising global stocks fueled risk appeal.

The Finance Index jumped 1.52% to 9849.89 points, the Properties Index rose 0.38% to 787.08 points and the Plantation Index added 0.03% to 5954.38 points. The market traded within a range of 9.08 points between an intra-day high of 1210.36 and a low of 1201.28 during the session. Actively traded stocks include KNM, TALAM, GENS-CI, SAAG, CIMB, GENTING, LBALUM-WA, AMMB, GENTING MALAYSIA and LBALUM.

Trading volume declined to 516.93 mil shares worth RM925.94 mil as compared to Thursday's 649.38 mil shares worth RM1,251.35 mil.

Leading Movers were CIMB (+42 sen to RM10.94), PUBLIC BANK (+16 sen to RM10.30), MAYBANK (+6 sen to RM6.60), AMMB (+7 sen to RM4.33) and BAT (+100 sen to RM46.00).

Lagging Movers were GENTING (-15 sen to RM6.82), ASTRO (-16 sen to RM3.49), MISC (-8 sen to RM8.90), GENTING MALAYSIA (-3 sen to RM2.88) and UMW HOLDINGS (-10 sen to RM6.30).

Market breadth was negative with 365 losers as compared to 283 gainers. On a weekly basis, the benchmark FBM KLCI surged 29.54 points or 2.51% as buying interest in big-cap stocks, especially banks picked up on recovery optimism.