Malaysian Stock Market Ends Firmer, CIMB Lifts CI

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) snapped a six-day losing streak by closing firmer Wednesday, with the benchmark index moving into positive territory spurred by buying support in index-linked counters such as CIMB and Public Bank, dealers said. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 10.64 points to finish at 1,663.27 after fluctuating between 1,656.47 and 1,667.7 throughout the day. Contributing a total of 6.825 points to the key index, CIMB soared 24 sen to RM5.75 after 13.74 million shares changed hands while Public Bank surged 40 sen to RM24.90 with 2.96 million shares transacted. Gainers led losers 394 to 371, while 390 counters were unchanged, 750 untraded and 38 others suspended. Total volume increased to 2.07 billion units worth RM1.94 billion from 1.43 billion units valued at RM1.51 billion recorded yesterday. Maybank IB Research, in a note today, projected CIMB to record a faster earnings growth of 11 per cent in financial year (FY) 2019. The higher growth was on the back of more stable net interest margins and credit costs, leading to a recovery in return on average equity to 10 per cent from 9.4 per cent (excluding one-offs) in FY18, it said. Meanwhile, a dealer said the uptrend on Bursa was in tandem with its regional peers’ performance amid improved market sentiment as investors were upbeat over an easing in trade tensions between the US and China. Among heavyweights, Maybank eased five sen to RM9.29, Tenaga lost four sen to RM13.50, and Petronas Chemicals slipped one sen to RM9.17, but IHH Healthcare added 11 sen to RM5.60. Of actives, MyEG shed 17 sen to 84 sen, Bumi Armada gained 1.5 sen to 17.5 sen, while Priceworth was flat at 4.5 sen. The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 7.08 points better at 11,406.61, the FBM Emas Index improved 51.19 points to 11,435.86 and the FBMT 100 Index edged up 53.59 points to 11,326.89. However, the FBM Ace Index fell 13.47 points to 4,532.75, and the FBM 70 erased 11.4 points to 13,206.29. Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index bolstered 151.12 points to 17,289.69 and the Plantation Index bagged 27.96 points to 6,660.48, but the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.24 of-a-point to 167.19. -- BERNAMA