KUALA LUMPUR (April 8): Bursa Malaysia closed higher on Monday, in tandem with most regional markets spurred by the upbeat momentum on Wall Street last Friday, said an analyst.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.73 points, or 0.3%, to 1,559.98 from last Friday’s close of 1,555.25. This marked the highest point for the index this year since Feb 27 when it stood at 1,558.8.

The benchmark index opened 1.53 points higher at 1,556.78 and moved between 1,554.15 and 1,560.26 throughout the trading session.

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 531 to 511, with 502 counters unchanged, 787 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover declined to 3.97 billion units worth RM2.33 billion compared with 4.04 billion units valued at RM2.68 billion last Friday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI ended marginally higher, in tandem with the positive performance across the region.

“The key regional indices ended stronger, following positive cues from Wall Street last Friday.

"Investors' focus will soon shift to the US March inflation data, due this week,” he told Bernama.

Thong also said that despite the cautious sentiment, he believed that interest in Malaysian equities will remain favourable, given their cheap valuations and improving corporate earnings.

“Nonetheless, in the short term, the benchmark index will be stuck in a consolidation mode due to cautious trading, For the week, we reckon trading will be muted in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays and anticipate that the FBM KLCI will trend within the range of 1,537-1,570,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd added five sen to RM9.69, Public Bank Bhd bagged one sen to RM4.19, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd increased one sen to RM6.64, Tenaga Nasional Bhd rose 28 sen to RM11.80, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd slid six sen to RM6.79.

Among the actives, ACE Market debutant SBH Marine Holdings Bhd rose 3.5 sen to 25.5 sen, Eversendai Corp Bhd put on four sen to 32 sen, Niche Capital Emas Holdings Bhd gained 1.5 sen to 15.5 sen, while Velesto Energy Bhd shed 0.5 sen to 27.5 sen, and KNM Group Bhd eased one sen to 7.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded by 30.83 points to 11,734.01, the FBMT 100 Index increased by 32.09 points to 11,370.83, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 28.42 points to 11,894.52, and the FBM 70 Index climbed 36.23 points to 16,368.30,

Meanwhile, the FBM ACE Index dipped 0.75 of-a-point to 4,980.84.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 65.55 points to 17,304.97, the Plantation Index advanced by 20.96 points to 7,481.05, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.65 of-a-point to 184.41, and the Energy Index fell 6.02 points to 961.48.

The Main Market volume declined to 1.91 billion units valued at RM1.97 billion versus 2.28 billion units worth RM2.38 billion last Friday.

Warrants turnover was unchanged at 1.22 billion units worth RM137.02 million against 1.22 billion units but with a slightly higher value of RM137.15 million last Friday.  

The ACE Market volume surged to 810.96 million shares worth RM223.25 million from 611.65 million shares worth RM159.96 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 303.54 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (333.61 million), construction (269.16 million), technology (156.61 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (67.86 million), property (270.39 million), plantation (70.58 million), REITs (10.18 million), closed/fund (51,500), energy (299.57 million), healthcare (37.07 million), telecommunications and media (29.07 million), transportation and logistics (35.33 million), and utilities (32.58 million).