Shares On Malaysia Stock Market End Marginally Higher

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (Bernama) -- Shares on the Malaysia stock market (Bursa Malaysia) closed marginally higher on Thursday amid positive regional sentiment and a stronger ringgit versus the US dollar. The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) finished 0.13 of-a-point better at 1,771.36 from Wednesday’s close of 1,771.23 after fluctuating between 1,770.53 and 1,775.85 throughout the day. The key index opened 0.95 of-a-point better at 1,772.18 this morning. The losses in Hong Leong Bank dragged the index down by 1.108 points. The stock fell 30 sen to close at RM15.70 with 3.02 million shares traded. Gainers thumped losers 502 to 314, with 386 counters unchanged, 610 untraded and 59 others suspended. Volume improved slightly to 1.396 billion units worth RM1.56 billion from 1.395 billion units valued at RM1.85 billion on Wednesday. Regional bourses rallied today following a rebound on the Wall Street overnight. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.45 per cent to 20,220.30, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.1 per cent to 25,965.42 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index surged 1.3 per cent to 3,257.62. Against the US dollar, the ringgit was traded at 4.2940/2970 as at 5 pm today compared with 4.2960/2990 at 6 pm Wednesday. The local unit has reportedly become the strongest major Asian currency by far this quarter. Among heavyweights, Public Bank rose four sen to RM20.30, Petronas Chemicals gained two sen to RM7.12, while both Maybank and Tenaga were flat at RM9.63 and RM14.14 respectively. However, Sime Darby and CIMB fell four sen each to RM9.57 and RM6.64 respectively. Of the actives, Key Alliance and Asia Bioenergy inched up half-a-sen each to 4.5 sen and 16 sen respectively, while Sapura Energy gained five sen to RM1.62. -- BERNAMA