KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended higher on Friday as investors continued to accumulate blue-chip stocks in line with stronger performances across most regional markets. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.50 points to 1,724.90 from yesterday’s close of 1,720.40. The benchmark index opened 0.83 of a point higher at 1,721.23, and moved between 1,715.67 and 1,730.12 throughout the day. The broader market was positive with gainers outpacing losers 707 to 402, while 547 counters were unchanged, 1,085 untraded and 56 suspended. Turnover expanded to 3.03 billion units valued at RM3.56 billion from 2.49 billion units valued at RM2.25 billion on Thursday.
President Joe Biden signed legislation on Wednesday that will exempt certain US semiconductor manufacturing facilities receiving government subsidies from undergoing federal environmental reviews . This exemption is intended to accelerate the expansion of semiconductor production under the US$52.7 billion Chips Act of 2022 . Without this new law, these projects could have faced delays from additional reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 , despite already complying with federal, state, and local regulations. Proponents argue that these projects could have been delayed by years without this legislative change. The US Commerce Department has allocated over US$35 billion for 26 semiconductor projects, including US$6.4 billion for Samsung , US$8.5 billion for Intel , US$6.6 billion for TSMC , and US$6.1 billion for Micron Technology to build and expand chip production in the United States. While environmental groups like the Sierra Club emphasize the need for rev...