Bursa Malaysia ends higher on Budget 2021 passing

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended higher today, bucking the regional trend, after Malaysia’s Supply Bill 2021 passed its third reading in the Dewan Rakyat with a division vote.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 11.28 points to 1,674.02 from Monday's close of 1,662.74.

It opened 1.20 points lower at 1,661.54 and moved between 1,655.88 and 1,679.10 throughout the day.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 659 to 524, while 523 counters were unchanged, 440 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Total volume decreased to 9.96 billion shares worth RM5.02 billion from 11.88 billion shares valued at RM7.20 billion on Monday.

Regionally, Asian shares were in the red, taking the cue from the overnight US stocks lacklustre performance which slipped for the fourth consecutive day as investors weighed the US$908 billion stimulus progress and fading optimism on vaccine roll out amid the increasing COVID-19 deaths and lockdowns.

China's Shanghai Stock Exchange eased 0.06 per cent to 3,367.23, Singapore's Straits Times Index shed 0.01 per cent to 2,857.73 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.17 per cent to 26,687.84 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.69 per cent to 26,207.29.

On local front, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the local bourse opened lower, extending yesterday’s losses in tandem with regional peers, amid some developments on the political front, coupled with renewed selling on rubber glove counters, but recovered firmly on positive sentiment brought on by the passing of Budget 2021.

“Among FBM KLCI constituents, Telekom led gainers with a 2.32 per cent gain as the passing of the budget signals clarity on the country's plan to enhance Internet network across the country.

“With plans to enhance the nation's Internet network likely to be on track, the Bursa Malaysia Technology Index also recorded the biggest gain of 1.50 per cent among sectors while Bursa Malaysia Energy Index saw the biggest drop at 0.74 per cent,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, he noted RHB Bank led the laggards, down 2.74 per cent, on reports that Aabar Investment plans to sell its entire stake in the bank.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank rose 38 sen to RM21.68, Petronas Chemicals and Top Glove added 11 sen each at RM7.96 and RM6.41 respectively while Tenaga increased 20 sen to RM10.80.

Maybank shed five sen to RM8.85.

Of the actives, Sino Hua-An improved 4.5 sen to 20.5 sen, Yong Tai added seven sen to 35.5 sen, AT Systematization and Trive Property edged up half-a-sen each to 18 sen and 1.5 sen respectively while XOX was flat at 10.5 sen.

-- BERNAMA