KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — Bursa Malaysia extended yesterday’s gains at the opening today, tracking the uptrend on Wall Street even though officials have yet to release a final tally of the US presidential election.
As at 9.06am, the benchmark index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) improved 10.98 points to 1,475.59 after opening 4.25 points better at 1,468.86.
Gainers outnumbered losers 362 to 103, while 233 counters were unchanged, 1,443 untraded and 28 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 385.16 million worth RM191.52 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said although the US presidential election race remains on course, investors breathe a sigh of relief that the neckline race will see neither party holds the majority in the Senate nor in the House of Representatives.
“This suggests that any broad policy changes are off the table.
“Meanwhile, we still think that rotational play amongst the lower liners may take charge over the interim, owing to the positive market sentiment,” it said in a note today.
At the time of writing, Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden is leading Republican nominee President Donald Trump in terms of electoral votes.
The research firm said the plantation sector is expected to garner further trading interest following the rising crude palm oil prices that is rallying towards RM3,100 per metric tonne.
“We also reckon that the construction sector remains in favour in view of the tabling of Budget 2021 that is expected to see mega-infrastructure projects remain in the pipeline,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose five sen to RM7.05, Hartalega gained six sen to RM17.90, Public Bank bagged 24 sen to RM15.10, and Petronas Gas increased 26 sen to RM16.06.
Fraser and Neave led the biggest gainers, adding 52 sen to RM31.60, followed by Malaysian Pacific Industries, bagging 48 sen to RM23.08, and Hong Leong Financial, rising 44 sen to RM14.38.
Of the actives, Berjaya Corporation added three sen to 21.5 sen, Iris Corporation and At Systematization each increased half-a-sen to 31 sen and 12.5 sen, respectively, while Vsolar unchanged at 3.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved 80.34 points to 10,684.34, the FBMT 100 Index was 76.45 points better at 10,485.11 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 81.00 points to 12,812.32.
The FBM 70 went up 96.17 points to 14,019.17 and the FBM ACE was 119.52 points firmer at 10,211.69.
The Financial Services Index rose 133.74 points to 12,115.76, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.87 point better at 144.84 and the Plantation Index gained 21.20 points to 6,928.17.
— Bernama
