KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Bursa Malaysia shook off early losses to end the trading day higher for the fifth straight day, with the benchmark index putting on 1.60 per cent, driven by buying interests in selected heavyweights led by Petronas Chemicals and Public Bank.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) has gained a total of 55.25 points over the last five trading days.

At 5pm, the market bellwether surged 22.62 points to settle at its intraday high of 1,437.72 from yesterday’s close of 1,415.10.

The FBM KLCI opened 0.38 of-a-point easier at 1,414.72, but thereafter hit an intraday low of 1,411.74, before picking up steam throughout the day to close higher.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 493 to 365, while 373 counters were unchanged, 1,131 untraded, and 18 others suspended.

Turnover increased to 2.71 billion units worth RM2.60 billion from Wednesday’s 2.23 billion units worth RM1.72 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng maintained his cautiously optimistic view given the improving sentiment on the local equities market.

"Nonetheless, investors should be aware of the increasing market risks and volatility, regionally and globally. We anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,430-1,450 towards the weekend with immediate resistance at 1,470 and support at 1,400,” he told Bernama.

Another dealer attributed the improving appetite in the domestic market to a pre-election rally.

The Election Commission today announced that Malaysia will hold its next general election on November 19, 2022, and the candidate nominations will take place on November 5, providing a 14-day campaigning period.

On the market, Petronas Chemicals jumped 27 sen to RM8.90 and Public Bank surged 10 sen to RM4.44. Both counters contributed 6.91 points to the gains in the key index.

Among other heavyweights, Maybank gained five sen to RM8.60, CIMB advanced 11 sen to RM5.50, TNB perked up nine sen to RM8.23, and IHH Healthcare eased one sen to RM6.09.

Of the actives, Serba Dinamik rose 1.5 sen to three sen, Borneo Oil ticked up half-a-sen to 2.5 sen, Top Glove went up one sen to 73.5 sen, Careplus climbed 3.5 sen to 44 sen, while MY E.G. was flat at 83 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded by 125.83 points to 10,169.80, the FBM 70 widened 35.41 points to 11,993.03, and the FBMT 100 Index improved 126.75 points to 9,917.47.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 118.77 points to 10,163.71 and the FBM ACE climbed 58.17 points to 4,783.12.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index soared 208.89 points to 16,386.87, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 1.94 points to 172.39, the Plantation Index garnered 161.53 points to 6,839.65, while the Energy Index increased 19.84 points to 683.28.

The Main Market volume rose to 1.97 billion shares worth RM2.42 billion from 1.38 billion shares worth RM1.49 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover eased to 290.39 million units worth RM50.74 million from 292.83 million units worth RM48.01 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume dwindled to 447.05 million shares worth RM125.28 million against 561.51 million shares worth RM175.52 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 179.63 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (463.28 million), construction (64.22 million), technology (119.73 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (152.92 million), property (121.97 million), plantation (115.15 million), REITs (6.61 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (406.03 million), healthcare (221.54 million), telecommunications and media (48.64 million), transportation and logistics (37.69 million), and utilities (31.71 million). — Bernama