Bursa kicks off 2020 on a positive note

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia kick-started the New Year on a positive note, as bargain hunters emerged on beaten-down stocks, said a dealer.

At 10.30 a.m. today, there were 407 gainers, 213 losers and 324 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia.

The FBM-KLCI was at 1,596.05, up 7.29 points, the FBMACE was at 5,321.96, up 95.37 points, and the FBMEmas was at 11,374.61, up 51.12 points.

Turnover was at 862.095 million shares valued at RM458.219 million.

Turnover amounted to 136.31 million shares worth RM66.94 million.

The market was closed on Wednesday for New Year.

The dealer said the local market was also tracking the strong performance of US markets on new year’s eve, which saw its three key benchmarks ended 0.3 per cent higher.

“Market participants also reacted positively towards the US President Donald Trump’s tweet that the signing of the phase-one trade deal with China would take place on Jan 15, 2020,“ he said.

Meanwhile, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd Research expected the FBM KLCI to range between 1,580 and 1,610 today.

“Downside supports are at 1,585 and 1,572,“ it said in a note today.

Among heavyweights, Public Bank rose 14 sen to RM19.58, CIMB and Maxis bagged five sen each to RM5.20 and RM5.37 respectively, IOI Corporation added six sen to RM4.67 and Petronas Gas was 18 sen better at RM16.80.

Of the actives, Bright Packaging garnered 10.5 sen to 49 sen, TDM and Avillion gained 1.5 sen each to 43.5 sen and 15.5 sen respectively, while JCY International accumulated one sen to 32.5 sen.

Top gainer, KLK climbed 24 sen to RM25.04, while top loser, Carlsberg fell 22 sen to RM29.00.

The FBM Emas Index increased 30.30 points to 11,353.79 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 27.99 points higher at 11,975.91.

The FBMT 100 Index increased 29.07 points to 11,143.62, the FBM 70 strengthened 23.20 points to 14,230.01 but the FBM Ace was 4.67 points lower at 5,221.92.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 0.39 of-a-point to 153.79, the Financial Services Index improved 45.90 points to 15,510.07 and the Plantation Index advanced 59.06 points to 7,792.43.

Gold futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives opened lower in the early session today, with one contract month traded.

At 9.39 am, February 2020 fell 28 ticks to RM200.00, while January 2020, March 2020 and April 2020 were pegged at RM200.50, RM201.80, RM202.90 a gramme, respectively.

Volume was one lot, while open interest amounted to 130 contracts.

At 9.30 am, the price of physical gold was down RM1.10 to RM192.90 a gramme. -Bernama

source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/bursa-kicks-off-2020-on-a-positive-note-CJ1847455