Malaysia's Stock Exchange Ends Higher

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's stock exchange (Bursa Malaysia) snapped a three-day losing streak to end higher Friday on bargain hunting in selected heavyweights, dealers said. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) finished at 1,670.27, up 1.24 points, from yesterday's close of 1,669.03, after opening 0.58 of-a-point stronger at 1,669.61, The benchmark index moved between 1,666.97 and 1,671.72 throughout the day. Among heavyweights, Tenaga added 10 sen to RM14.42, Maybank gained four sen to RM7.83, Public Bank rose eight sen to RM19.84, Petronas Chemicals declined four sen to RM6.96 and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.41. As for actives, XOX fell 1.5 sen to 13.5 sen, RGB gained one sen to 21 sen, Kinsteel decreased 2.5 sen to three sen and Sumatec was flat at six sen. A dealer said bargain hunting by institutional funds supported the local market but further gains were limited by fears of a better-than-expected US third-quarter gross domestic product data which will be out later tonight. He said a positive US growth data would boost the prospects of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve in December. Meanwhile, he said Asian stock markets were mixed as they were still affected by a flurry of major corporate earnings reports across the region and the declining oil prices. Regionally, Singapore's Straits Times gave up 0.45 per cent to 2,816.26, Japan's Nikkei 225 was 0.63 per cent higher at 17,446.41, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.26 per cent to 3,104.27. On the broader market, losers led gainers 428 to 335 with 387 counters unchanged, 550 untraded and 80 others suspended. Volume was lower at 1.48 billion units worth RM1.66 billion from 1.49 billion units worth RM1.61 billion on Thursday. -- BERNAMA