KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia finished higher on Tuesday with FBM KLCI at a 20-month high, supported by buying from foreign investors.
The FBM KLCI jumped 19.09 points, or 1.26% to 1,531.37, its highest level since June 2022. The index moved between 1,512.63 and 1,533.16 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive as gainers overpowered the losers on a ratio of 634-to-297 stocks. Traded volumes stood at 2.1 billion worth RM2.04bil.
The bullish run of the local stock market is predominantly led by banking stocks. Maybank rose 18 sen to RM9.44, boosting the index by 3.1586 points. Public Bank added five sen to RM4.40, pushing the index higher by 1.4121 and CIMB gained 15 sen to RM6.34, lifting the index higher by 2.3277.
Tenaga, which rose 30 sen to RM11.08 contributed 2.5262 points to the index while PETRONAS Chemicals gaied 13 sen to RM6.84, adding 1.5132 points to the index.
YTL Power fell seven sen to RM3.98 and YTL declined three sen to RM2.29. Both have been included in the MSCI Malaysia Index, while Dialog Group
has been removed.
On the broader market, F&N jumped 38 sen to RM29, Ideal Capital added 35 sen to RM3.50 and Allianz rose 26 sen to RM19.66.
Heineken slid 28 sen to RM24.70, Sungei Bagan Rubber fell 16 sen to RM4.68 and Malayan Cement declined nine sen to RM4.62.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.7633, up 0.04% against the US dollar.
US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 71 cents to US$77.63 and Brent gained 70 cents to US$82.70 per barrel.
Reuters reported that Japan's Nikkei continued to advance, climbing to 38,010 on Tuesday, not far from the record high of 38,957 the benchmark touched on Dec. 29, 1989. The Nikkei has gained more than 13% so far this year, after rising 28% in 2023.
Markets in China are closed for the Lunar New Year holidays and will resume trade on Feb 19.
