KUALA LUMPUR (March 18): Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, with sentiment boosted by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s announcement of the Strategic Programme to Empower the People and the Economy or PEMERKASA and positive Wall Street.
At 9.06am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had inched up 5.83 points to close at 1,630.80 versus yesterday’s close at 1,624.97.
The index opened 1.21 points higher at 1,626.18.
On the broader market, gainers surpassed losers 355 to 207, while 316 counters were unchanged, 1,369 untraded and 27 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 713.02 million shares worth RM218.72 million.
Malacca Securities believes the RM20 billion economic stimulus package, which includes several programmes such as an increase in micro-credit financing and the extension of the wage subsidy, will strengthen the economic recovery and market sentiment moving forward.
The government also intends to implement a more targeted approach in combating the Covid-19 pandemic to replace the movement control order (MCO) nationwide or in a state.
“We believe the economic stimulus package will shine light on the recovery-themed sectors, such as tourism, gaming, aviation, banking and consumer.
“Besides, investors could focus on utilities counters, given the stability of the sector. Meanwhile, traders might want to focus on the laggard-themed sectors, such as property and construction, to look for trading opportunities,” it said in a note.
In addition, US stock markets rebounded strongly as the Dow (+0.6%) topped the 33,000 psychological level after the US Federal Reserve (Fed) stood pat on its dovish interest rate stance at least through 2023.
Of the heavyweights, banks recovered from losses, with Public Bank Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd improving five sen to RM4.29 and RM4.56 respectively, while Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) rose seven sen to RM8.42.
Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) increased 12 sen to RM6.52, Genting Bhd added five sen to RM5.35 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) was two sen higher at RM8.19.
Meanwhile, Top Glove Corp Bhd lost four sen to RM5.34 and Supermax Corp Bhd dropped five sen to RM4.30 after yesterday’s gains.
Top active counter Pasukhas Group Bhd declined half a sen to 3.5 sen, Pegasus Heights Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) edged up half a sen to 3.5 sen and 11 sen respectively, while Scomi Group Bhd was one sen higher at 6.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded 35.16 points to 11,958.80, the FBMT 100 improved 36.53 points to 11,634.94 and the FBM Emas Shariah recovered 11.08 points to 13,257.23.
The FBM 70 was 29.60 points higher at 15,736.30 and the FBM ACE surged 102.93 points to 10,705.12.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 109.16 points to 15,609.12, the Plantation Index inched down 2.59 points to 7,198.00 and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up one point to 192.83.- The Edge Market