KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended higher on Tuesday, outperforming most regional markets as investors continued to rotate towards commodity and plantation-related stocks, an analyst said. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.47 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 1,733.36 compared with Monday’s close of 1,725.89. The benchmark index opened 1.63 points higher at 1,727.52, and fluctuated between 1,723.60 and 1,734.53 throughout the day. On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 762 to 438, while 576 counters were unchanged, 1,075 untraded and 16 suspended. Turnover expanded to 3.74 billion units valued at RM2.91 billion from 3.45 billion units valued at RM2.74 billion on Monday.
At 5pm, the KLCI settled at 1,774.22 points. Investors bargain hunted for local shares after the index fell 4.6 points to 1,771.62 points yesterday.
Today, Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd research head Pong Teng Siew told theedgemarkets.com : “Overall market sentiment is still mixed, but the [KLCI] likely recouped its losses from yesterday due to its reaction to the earnings season.”
Malaysia's April-June quarter corporate financial-reporting season starts in July, although most companies report their earnings in August.
Today, Bursa Malaysia saw 392 gainers compared with 364 decliners. A total of 1.77 billion shares valued at RM1.89 billion were traded.
Top gainer was KESM Industries Bhd while Mlabs Systems Bhd was the top-active counter. Pong said penny stocks' performance was a good barometer for retail investors' sentiment.
Across Asian share markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.05% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.91%. South Korea's Kospi added 0.44%.
Reuters reported that Asian shares rose on Tuesday after modest gains on Wall Street, while robust metals prices underpinned some regional markets even as investors remained wary ahead of the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole later this week.
Source: The Edge
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