Malaysian Stock Market Ends Firmer

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) reversed Wednesday's losses to end the day on a firm note Thursday, supported by persistent buying momentum. A dealer said the overnight surge on Wall Street had a wide reaching impact on the sentiment in regional bourses, including the local stock market. At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) finished 18.12 points or 1.08 per cent higher at 1,690.72 from 1,672.60 on Wednesday. The barometer which opened 7.11 points higher at 1,679.71, moved between 1,677.33 and 1,691.65 throughout the day. Market breadth remained positive with 595 gainers outpacing 221 losers, 317 counters were unchanged, 751 untraded and 54 others were suspended. Turnover stood at 1.60 billion shares worth RM1.21 billion. Regionally, Singapore's Straits Times Index increased 1.12 per cent to 3,044.74, Japan's Nikkei rose 3.88 per cent to 20,077.62 and South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index was 0.02 per cent better at 2,028.44. Meanwhile, news that a trade team would travel from the United States would travel to Beijing in the week of Jan 7, to hold talks with Chinese officials, sent a positive signal to the market. "Investors expect the talks to potentially soothe trade tensions between the two economic giants," he said. Among heavyweights, Maybank rose five sen to RM9.40, Public Bank bagged 12 sen to RM24.88, Tenaga advanced four sen to RM13.58, Petronas Chemicals accumulated 17 sen to RM9.36 and CIMB perked six sen to RM5.78. Of actives, Hibiscus perked four sen to 81.5 sen, MyEG increased 3.5 sen to 96.5 sen, Prestariang advanced two sen to 42.5 sen, Sapura Energy inched up half-a-sen to 29.5 sen while Hubline was flat at four sen. Nestle was the top gainer, surging RM2.50 to RM148.00 followed by BAT which gained 80 sen to RM36.36, Ajinomoto added 60 sen to RM19.60, Hong Leong Bank strengthened 52 sen to RM20.72 and Allianz was 40 sen higher at RM12.80. -- BERNAMA