KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — Bursa Malaysia soared today, led by plantation and banking counters.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended at its intra-day high of 1,553.37, after increasing by 30.94 points from yesterday’s close of 1,522.43.  

The market bellwether opened 1.78 points higher at 1,524.21 and fluctuated between 1,522.81 and 1,553.37.

Market breadth remained positive with gainers surpassing decliners 811 to 319, while 390 counters were unchanged, 699 untraded and six others suspended.

Turnover increased to 4.55 billion shares worth RM3.15 billion from 4.21 billion shares worth RM2.15 billion yesterday.

An analyst said gains were seen across the board amidst strong market interest and improved sentiment.

He said the bullish crude oil and crude palm oil (CPO) prices as well as the relaxed domestic lockdown measures are contributing to the uptick in the domestic market.

At press time, oil benchmark Brent crude price rose to above US$69 (RM292) per barrel, while CPO’s benchmark stood at RM4,316 per tonne at yesterday’s closing.

The market was also boosted by a rally in regional bourses and reduced worries about tapering of the US Federal Reserve, which had raised hopes for faster global economic recovery.

Still, investors will closely monitor the United States’ Jackson Hole symposium on Thursday, which may offer clues on timeline of the tapering exercise.

At home, banking heavyweights Public Bank advanced 17 sen to RM4.11, while Maybank and CIMB gained 15 sen to RM8.32 and RM4.83 respectively.

Hong Leong Bank jumped 60 sen to RM19.00 and Hong Leong Financial Group climbed 70 sen to RM18.02.

In the plantation sector, Sime Darby Plantation was 25 sen stronger at RM4.16 and IOI Corp was 14 sen better at RM3.89.

Among the actives, VSolar was flat at 1.5 sen, D’nonce Technology dropped 3.5 sen to 57 sen and MMAG shed one sen to 11.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 208.73 points to 11,365.35, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 206.05 points to 11,071.18, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 176.97 points to 12,421.34, the FBM 70 was 221.46 points higher at 14,931.40, and the FBM ACE went up 148.37 points to 7,327.49.  

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index firmed 204.46 points to 6,61484, the Financial Services Index soared 418.58 points to 15,336.43, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 2.0 points to 191.37. 

Main Market volume increased to 2.65 billion shares worth RM2.74 billion from yesterday’s 2.25 billion shares worth RM1.72 billion.

Warrants turnover ticked up to 406.88 million units worth RM56.40 million compared to 278.62 million units worth RM45.56 million.

Volume on the ACE Market, however dropped to 1.48 billion shares worth RM352.91 million versus 1.67 billion shares worth RM383.40 million previously.    

Consumer products and services accounted for 568.41 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (806.52 million), construction (106.49 million), technology (409.95 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (154.32 million), property (170.75 million), plantation (31.57 million), REITs (7.65 million), closed/fund (26,600), energy (243.75 million), healthcare (43.65 million), telecommunications and media (32.50 million), transportation and logistics (55.32 million), and utilities (20.08 million). — Bernama