KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 26): Bursa Malaysia continued to hover at a two-month-high level on Thursday, with the benchmark composite index rallying to the 1,585-level.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 15.94 points to 1,585.74 from Wednesday’s close of 1,569.80.   

The market bellwether opened 0.92 point higher at 1,570.72, which was also the lowest level for the day, and climbed as high as 1,590.91.

Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 580 to 506, while 419 counters were unchanged, 747 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Turnover, however, was lower at 4.38 billion units worth RM3.25 billion compared with 4.55 billion units valued at RM2.89 billion yesterday.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said Bursa Malaysia outperformed most Asian peers such as Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Indonesia that recorded losses.

"Perhaps the anticipated announcement of the Cabinet Ministers line-up continued to reinstil confidence among investors towards Malaysia's leadership.

"At the same time, expectations that the US Federal Reserve would drop hints on scaling back asset purchases during the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday waned, as tapering views may be evolving due to the Delta variant," he told Bernama.

On the local front, Sime Darby was the top winner among the 30 companies that constitute FBM KLCI following a 5.8% jump during the day, while Bursa Malaysia’s Plantation Index gained the most among sectoral indices after ending 1.6% higher.

Among the heavyweights, Sime Darby went up 13 sen to RM2.39, Maybank was 12 sen higher at RM8.45, Press Metal added 16 sen to RM5.40, Public Bank increased six sen to RM4.16, and Petronas Dagangan clinched 78 sen to RM19.80.

MISC gained 16 sen to RM7.07 and Hap Seng Consolidated was 28 sen stronger at RM8.50.

Among the actives, Ta Win jumped 2.5 sen to 5.5 sen, BCM Alliance decreased three sen to 6.5 sen, Scope Industries slid 2.5 sen to 34.5 sen, and D'nonce was six sen lower at 55 sen.

Green Packet was flat at 20.5 sen and AYS Ventures climbed 15.5 sen to 54.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 89.98 points to 11,539.44, the FBMT 100 Index was 90.49 points better at 11,249.08, the FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 83.18 points to 12,635.08, the FBM 70 rose 32.15 points to 14,965.79 and the FBM ACE lost 26.78 points to 7,262.34.   

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index firmed 86.62 points to 6,749.63, the Financial Services Index gained 66.01 points to 15,447.96 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 3.21 points to 197.80.

Main Market volume increased to 2.87 billion shares worth RM2.93 billion from Wednesday’s 2.66 billion shares worth RM2.53 billion.

Warrants turnover eased to 364.68 million units valued at RM51.27 million compared to 394.23 million units valued at RM51.05 million yesterday.

Volume on the ACE Market inched down to 1.14 billion shares worth RM274.06 million from 1.50 billion shares worth RM316.58 million previously.     

Consumer products and services accounted for 594.30 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.22 billion), construction (69.70 million), technology (212.33 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (104.27 million), property (152.73 million), plantation (57.34 million), REITs (6.50 million), closed/fund (71,500), energy (217.91 million), healthcare (52.87 million), telecommunications and media (122.63 million), transportation and logistics (36.77 million), and utilities (19.68 million).