Overall, market sentiment improved as domestic uncertainty was quelled, while oil prices continued to hover above US$56 (RM226) per barrel level.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) surged 24.65 points to 1,636.69 compared with 1,612.04 at yesterday’s close.
The index opened 5.64 points higher at 1,617.68 and moved between 1,617.68 and 1,637.10.
On the broader market, gainers trounced losers 949 to 348, while 309 counters were unchanged, 493 untraded and 11 others suspended.
Total volume, however, slipped to 7.12 billion units worth RM5.11 billion from 8.41 billion units worth RM5.76 billion yesterday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said investors had shrugged off concerns from the emergency order and MCO as the restrictions were not as harsh as before.
“Also, a suspended parliament could mean that policymakers will be more focused on improving the economy rather than dealing with political differences,” he said.
Adam said the rally in banking stocks lifted the Bursa Malaysia Financial Services Index by 3.5%. On the flip side, healthcare and rubber glove counters registered broad declines causing the Bursa Malaysia healthcare sector to drop slightly by 0.1%.
He did not discount any possibility of short selling in the rubber glove and healthcare counters given the current fluid environment.
In the oil market, the uptrend continues after the American Petroleum Institute reported a large draw in crude oil inventories of 5.821 million barrels for the week ending Jan 8 compared with 1.661 million barrels in the previous week.
Banking counters led the way among heavyweights, with Public Bank surging RM1.32 to RM21.40. Maybank gained 30 sen to RM8.30, CIMB increased 15 sen to RM4.07 and RHB Bank added 14 sen to RM5.47.
However, IHH dropped 10 sen to RM5.45, Top Glove edged down five sen to RM6.63, Hartalega lost 14 sen to RM13, and Supermax declined 19 sen to RM7.11.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 196.70 points to 11,748.76, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 190.01 points to 11,490.25, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 95.15 points to 13,254.98.
The FBM 70 rose 311.49 points to 14,821.08 and the FBM ACE improved 188.54 points to 10,692.03.
Volume on the ACE Market dipped to 1.86 billion shares worth RM592.77 million from 2.7 billion shares worth RM939.38 million previously.