Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said regional key indices closed mostly higher as investors turned positive following China’s property market development.
Yesterday, China’s central bank governor held a meeting with real estate developers, granting them permission to increase their fundraising through bond sales.
This move was part of the republic’s ongoing efforts to relax the debt restrictions imposed in 2020, which severely impacted the industry, he added.
Meanwhile, concerns loom over the US economy’s vulnerability to a recession after undergoing several rate hikes in the last year to combat inflation, said the analyst.
He added that investors are eagerly awaiting the US non-farm payroll data update today.
“As investor sentiment improves both regionally and globally, we believe the market undertone remains steady on the domestic front,” he told Bernama.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 3.36 points to 1,445.21 from 1,441.85 at yesterday’s close.
The barometer index opened 0.64 of-a-point higher at 1,442.49 and moved between 1,442.23 and 1,447.13 throughout the day.
On the overall market, gainers beat losers 456 to 333, while 470 counters were unchanged, 1,017 untraded and 26 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.68 billion units worth RM1.42 billion.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 1 sen to RM8.91, Public Bank gained 3 sen to RM4.12, both CIMB and Tenaga Nasional increased 4 sen to RM5.50 and RM9.60, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM6.85.
Of the actives, Classita and Widad were flat at 16 sen and 43 sen, respectively, UEM Sunrise went up 1.5 sen to 50.5 sen, KNM was 0.5 sen easier at 8.5 sen, and MST Golf lost 17 sen to 59.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 24.15 points to 10,617.37, the FBMT 100 Index was 22.87 points firmer at 10,310.88, the FBM Emas Shariah Index perked up 1.81 points to 10,871.55, and the FBM 70 Index climbed 26.2 points to 13,921.16, while the FBM ACE Index fell 48.14 points to 5,253.71.
Sector-wise, the financial services index garnered 79.05 points to 16,142.02, the energy index edged up 1.5 points to 826.36, the industrial products and services index inched up 0.67 of-a-point to 166.5, and the plantation index slid 23.99 points to 7,080.71.
The Main Market volume dwindled to 1.77 billion units valued at RM1.17 billion from 2.11 billion units valued at RM1.42 billion on Thursday.
Warrants turnover improved to 410.15 million units worth RM66.15 million versus 400.86 million units worth RM64.59 million previously.
The ACE Market volume expanded to 490.84 million shares valued at RM183.68 million compared to 418.03 million shares valued at RM165.84 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 666.98 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (286.30 million); construction (97.66 million); technology (127.94 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (43.95 million); property (205.49 million); plantation (22.83 million); REITs (9.13 million), closed/fund (nil); energy (192.10 million); healthcare (40.45 million); telecommunications and media (21.42 million); transportation and logistics (25.97 million); and utilities (39.09 million).