KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher as investor confidence was lifted following the better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) data released earlier.

The country’s economy grew at a faster pace of 5.6% in the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, exceeding the consensus of a 4.8% growth, powered by the manufacturing and services sectors.

Bank Negara Malaysia said on Friday that growth, on the expenditure side, was underpinned by an increase in private consumption of 6.6%, investments at 12% and exports at 9.8%.

At 12.30 pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI closed 3.23 points higher at 1,770.40. The index opened 1.23 points higher at 1,768.40 this morning.

In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers with 493 stocks ending higher and 295 stocks finishing lower while 373 counters were unchanged. Trading volume stood at 1.57 billion shares worth RM1.32bil.

PublicInvest Research said the FBM KLCI might open with a positive bias today after US stocks steadied after the previous day’s savage sell-off, although the global market mood remained very nervous given this week’s intensification of political concerns in Washington.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 56.09 points, or 0.27%, to end at 20,663.02 while the UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.9% to 7,436.42.

Hong Leong Investment Bank Research expects buying interest to stay soft in the US over the near term amid on-going investigation on Trump’s political issue may dampen the confidence on the execution of Trump’s economic policies. 

It said the Dow may hover below the resistance level of  20,777.

“However,  following the mild recovery in the overseas  markets, we opine that buying activities may emerge on Bursa Malaysia. We think trading interest is likely to be driven by the on-going results reporting season,” Hong Leong said. 

On Bursa Malaysia,  Petronas Dagangan was the top gainer, up 68 sen to RM24.76, Bursa rose 33 sen to RM10.32 while Sam Engineering added 26 sen to RM7.16. 

The top losers included British American Tobacco, Tasek Corp and Pos Malaysia.

As for the heavyweights, Petronas Gas edged up 12 sen to RM19.12, Genting Malaysia added 7 sen to RM5.88 and Genting Bhd gained 6 sen to RM9.80.

Elsewhere in the region, Asian shares closed mostly higher with Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.24%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.19%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.21% and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong advanced 0.4%.

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