Malaysian Stock Market Closes Stronger On Better Corporate Earnings Optimism

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 (Bernama) -- Share prices on the Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) closed stronger Thursday, backed by optimism that 2018 fourth quarter corporate earnings results will be better after Malaysia recorded a Gross Domestic Product growth of 4.7 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2018 and the whole year, a dealer said. At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) finished at 1,689.06, up 3.76 points, from Tuesday’s close of 1,687.41. The index opened 0.32 of-a-point firmer at 1,687.73 and moved between 1,682.81 and 1,689.06 throughout the day. Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said GDP growth accelerated for the first time since the third quarter of 2017, ending a streak of four quarters of slow growth. However, he said Bank Negara Malaysia's Quarterly Bulletin was dovish in their monetary stance while the Monetary Policy Committee felt the balance of risks was tilted on the downside, suggesting challenging economic prospects in 2019. “Technically speaking, the FBM KLCI is in the neutral zone, implying that the index will likely remain timid. Perhaps, markets are awaiting corporate earnings announcements to be made for the fourth quarter of 2018 by the end of this month,” he told Bernama. Among heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB were flat at RM9.55 and RM5.78, respectively. Public Bank eased two sen to RM24.94, TNB shed four sen to RM13.02 and Petronas Chemicals slipped one sen to RM8.47. Of actives, Sapura Energy gained three sen to 30.5 sen, Bumi Armada and KNM climbed two sen each to 24.5 sen and 11 sen, respectively, Hibiscus perked 6.5 sen to RM1.06 and Barakah added half-a-sen to 14.5 sen. Market breadth was positive with 463 gainers and 359 losers while 381 counters remained unchanged, 650 untraded and 35 others were suspended. Total volume rose to 3.88 billion units valued at RM2.28 billion from Wednesday's 2.63 billion units valued at RM1.87 billion. -- BERNAMA