KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed marginally lower on Friday, as cautious sentiment persisted, with investors remaining on the sidelines amid ongoing conflicts in West Asia, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.80 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,695.50 from Thursday’s close of 1,698.30. The benchmark index opened 5.82 points higher at 1,704.12, and moved between 1,693.65 and 1,708.12 throughout the day. However, market breadth remained positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 634 to 415, while 521 counters were unchanged, 1,077 untraded and 10 suspended. Turnover improved to 3.38 billion units worth RM2.95 billion from yesterday’s 3.20 billion units worth RM3.50 billion.
KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI rose 13.84 points or 0.78% to close at 1,776.95 as market sentiment was boosted by the strong overnight performance on Wall Street on positive jobs data.
"Payroll numbers in the US were better than expected, so the market's performance was riding on that momentum and the anticipation of what should be a positive US jobs report to be released later this evening," said Etiqa Insurance head of research at Chris Eng.
Reuters said ADP reported private payrolls grew by 253,000 last month, beating analysts' median forecast of a 185,000 increase. If the US government's payroll report for May were to show another solid pickup in hiring, it would cement expectations that a rate hike in less than two weeks is a done deal.
"The big, medium and small cap indexes saw positive performance today as well," Eng added.
The broader market saw gainers leading losers at 732 to 247, with 318 counters closing unchanged.
Some 2.46 billion shares valued at RM2.58 billion changed hands.
Top gainers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, while top losers were Nestle (M) Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd and Ajinomoto (M) Bhd.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei share average broke through the 20,000-point level for the first time since December 2015 as strong US economic data and a weaker yen boosted investor confidence, Reuters reported.
South Korea's KOSPI rose 1.16% to 2,371.72 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.44% at 25,924.05.
Source: The Edge
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