KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 19): Bursa Malaysia continued its upbeat momentum for the fourth consecutive trading day, with the key index gaining 1.05%, lifted by buying of banking stocks. 

At 5pm on Wednesday (Oct 19), the benchmark FBM KLCI had surged 14.74 points to finish at an intraday high of 1,415.10, from Tuesday's close at 1,400.36. 

The index opened 2.32 points higher at 1,402.68, and then hit an intraday low of 1,400.28, before picking up steam throughout the day to close higher. 

On the broader market, gainers slightly outpaced losers 437 to 426, while 382 counters were unchanged, 1,117 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Turnover eased to 2.23 billion units worth RM1.72 billion, from Tuesday's 2.40 billion units worth RM1.71 billion.  

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said trading in the local market was cautiously optimistic, given the improvement in regional market sentiment, but investors should stay alert due to increasing market volatility.

"We believe the KLCI will continue its uptrend as valuations remain cheap, and raise our target for the week to the 1,400-1,430 range. The immediate resistance is spotted at 1,430, while support is at 1,400,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) rose four sen to RM8.55, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd advanced eight sen to RM8.63, IHH Healthcare Bhd perked up 13 sen to RM6.10, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) shed six sen to RM8.14. 

Of the actives, UEM Sunrise Bhd added one sen to 20 sen, Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd climbed half a sen to 9.5 sen, Top Glove Corp Bhd fell 1.5 sen to 72.5 sen, Hiap Huat Holdings Bhd eased three sen to 13 sen, Careplus Group Bhd declined two sen to 40.5 sen, and Eduspec Holdings Bhd slipped half a sen to one sen.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded by 69.07 points to 10,043.97, the FBM 70 narrowed 48.53 points to 11,957.62, and the FBMT 100 Index improved by 68.97 points to 9,790.72.  

The FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 10.16 points to 10,044.94, and the FBM ACE slid 28.22 points to 4,724.95.  

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index soared 284.65 points to 16,177.98, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 1.59 points to 172.45, the Plantation Index increased 61.45 points to 6,678.12, and the Energy Index fell 7.33 points to 663.44.  

The Main Market volume decreased to 1.38 billion shares worth RM1.49 billion, from Tuesday's 1.47 billion shares worth RM1.40 billion.  

Warrant turnover narrowed to 292.83 million units worth RM48.01 million, from 300.37 million units valued at RM47.67 million.

The ACE Market volume dwindled to 561.51 million shares worth RM175.52 million, from 633.53 million shares worth RM260.03 million.  

Consumer product and service counters accounted for 170.80 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services (364.16 million), construction (41.35 million), technology (170.40 million), special purpose acquisition companies (nil), financial services (67.95 million), property (177.52 million), plantation (46.47 million), real estate investment trusts (7.08 million), closed/funds (2,000), energy (88.62 million), healthcare (186.75 million), telecommunications and media (21.06 million), transportation and logistics (25.62 million), and utilities (11.79 million).