At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) jumped 11.22 points to end at 1,601.38 from Friday’s close of 1,590.16.
The index opened 3.03 points better at 1,593.19 and moved between 1,592.10 and 1,604.90 throughout the session.
Market breadth was positive with gainers surpassing decliners 537 to 503, while 460 counters were unchanged, 746 untraded and 50 others suspended.
Turnover was higher at 4.43 billion units worth RM3.67 billion compared with 4.08 billion units worth RM2.96 billion on Friday.
A dealer said that Asian stock markets were traded mostly higher on Monday, responding to the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday following US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks at the Jackson Hole symposium on the same day.
However, he said the upside was limited as traders remain cautious amid the Covid-19 situation in the region and in several countries, which continues to buffer economic activity.
On the domestic front, another dealer said that the local bourse gained continued support amid easing political risk and reopening of business activities.
He said investors also reacted positively to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s target to achieve a vaccination rate of over 50% for adult population in six states – Perak, Terengganu, Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Sabah – by the end of September while considering moving Klang Valley into Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan.
Petronas Gas and Axiata Group were the top two contributors towards the local index today with a total of 3.61 points, gaining 54 sen and 10 sen each to end at RM16.80 and RM4.14 respectively.
Among other heavyweights, Maybank rose 3.0 sen to RM8.40, Petronas Chemicals improved 10 sen to RM8.30, Tenaga Nasional went up 8.0 sen to RM10.46, IHH Healthcare added 5.0 sen to RM6.40 while Public Bank was flat at RM4.18.
Among the actives, KNM Group eased half-a-sen to 25.5 sen, Kanger International slipped 1.0 sen to 4.5 sen, while Bintai Kinden increased 10.5 sen to 48 sen and Sapura Energy was flat at 12.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 67.34 points to 11,627.87, the FBMT 100 Index went up 69.53 points to 11,342.91 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 71.1 points to 12,750.46.
The FBM 70 gained 53.12 points to 15,023.46 while the FBM ACE picked up 30.03 points to 7,244.90.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index declined 22.43 points to 6,751.25 while the Financial Services Index jumped 70.37 points to 15,557.27 and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.78 point to 198.34.
Main Market volume increased slightly to 2.95 billion shares worth RM3.35 billion from Friday’s 2.88 billion shares worth RM2.65 billion.
Warrants turnover rose to 323.07 million units valued at RM45.98 million compared to 315.54 million units valued at RM45.89 million.
Volume on the ACE Market widened to 1.16 billion shares worth RM263.50 million from 880.77 million shares worth RM263.95 million previously.