Bursa rides on Wall Street gains, vaccination programme to open higher

On the broader market, gainers beat losers 272 to 129, while 265 counters were unchanged, 1,464 untraded and 11 others suspended. ― Picture by Hari Anggara

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Friday, riding on Wall Street overnight gains and Malaysia’s update on its scheduled rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme by end-February.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.64 points to 1,588.54 from 1,584.90 at Thursday’s close.

The index opened 2.8 points higher at 1,587.70.

On the broader market, gainers beat losers 272 to 129, while 265 counters were unchanged, 1,464 untraded and 11 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 252.31 million units worth RM128.41 million.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, on Thursday, announced that the COVID-19 vaccine, produced  by Pfizer and BioNTech, would be made available for free for 80 per cent of the population or 26.5 million people.

“The announcement, coupled with the positive performance on Wall Street overnight, may lift the overall market sentiment on the local front,” Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said in a note.

It said the lower liners will continue to enjoy their upward momentum as liquidity remains well on the equity market.

As for sector focus on Friday, the brokerage firm said given the economic activities may restart in the near term, it expects trading interest may develop within the recovery sector such as construction, building materials, property and gaming.

“Meanwhile, the technology, furniture, as well as vaccine-related counters should remain in the upbeat tone,” it said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose four sen to RM7.93, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.09, Petronas Chemicals improved nine sen to RM7.30, and Tenaga was seven sen higher at RM9.77.

Of the actives, Mtouche was flat at five sen, Solution Group fell four sen to RM1.45 and QES rose two sen to 53.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 31.25 points to 11,561.51, the FBMT 100 Index added 29.06 points to 11,291.90 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 35.59 points to 13,130.50.

The FBM 70 increased 51.18 points to 15,112.13 and the FBM ACE appreciated 50.11 points to 10,966.94.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 23.44 points to 14,623.35, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.03 points to 175.74, and the Plantation Index surged 7.01 points to 7,214.78. — Bernama

Source: Malay Mail