KUALA LUMPUR: Corporate earnings results boosted market sentiment on Tuesday, leading the FBM KLCI to close higher, reaching its highest in almost four years, amid a weak broader market.
The market barometer closed up 13.3 points, or 0.81%, at 1,652.29, its highest level since December 2020. Today's gain is the biggest since rising 1.53% on Aug 19. The index traded between an intraday high of 1,653.12 and a low of 1,639.16.
Market breadth turned negative as losers outnumbered gainers with a ratio of 476-to-640 stocks. Traded volumes stood at 3.18 billion shares, with a value of RM3.2bil.
Among the gainers, Hong Leong Industries jumped 88 sen to RM12.12, Ajinomoto added 72 sen to RM15.20, PETRONAS Dagangan rose 48 sen to RM20.90 and PBA Holdings climbed 40 sen to RM2.20.
Malaysian Pacific Industries
tumbled RM1.30 to RM33.20, Nestle slid RM1.08 to RM99.92, Guan Chong declined 47 sen to RM2.88 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong gave up 26 sen to RM21.20.
Public Bank rose 17 sen to RM4.68 after posting a 10% increase in its net profit in the second quarter ended June 30.
The bank reported a 10.08% jump in net profit to RM1.78bil, on the back of topline of RM6.69bil, a 6.82% improvement over the year-ago quarter.
RHB Bank fell one sen to RM5.92 with 10.22 million shares traded. It reported a net profit of RM722.31mil as compared to RM808.7mil in the year-ago quarter, while revenue rose to RM4.42bil from RM4.05bil over the same comparative period.
Stock market data revealed that foreign investors net purchased RM2mil, while local institutions bought RM14mil worth of equities on Monday.
Retail investors, however, were net sellers, unloading RM16mil in equities.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia has suspended intraday short-selling (IDSS) for Notion Vtec due to breaches of the price limit.
It said the stock was suspended for the rest of the day after Notion’s shares dropped more than 15 per cent from the reference price.
The short-selling for Notion under the IDSS will resume on Aug 28 at 8.30 am.
Notion fell 19 sen to 89 sen with 88.27 million shares traded.
Oil prices halted recent gains as supply concerns mounted due to fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East and the potential closure of Libyan oil fields.
Brent crude was down 33 cents at US$81.10 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 42 cents to US$77 a barrel.
Key gauges across the region had a mixed day. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.47%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed up 0.43%, South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.32% and China’s CSI300 Index finished down 0.57%.
