New BNM governor appointment lifts Bursa Malaysia at close
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher today as investors reacted positively to the appointment of the new Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Governor, Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus.
A dealer said with Nor Shamsiah's vast experience in the industry, the appointment had boosted investors' confidence in the local market.
At the close, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) went up 1.83 points, or 0.11%, to finish at 1,694.15 from Thursday's close of 1,692.32.
The index opened 9.35 points lower at 1,682.97 and moved between 1,678.03 and 1,699.95 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 480 to 350, while 417 counters were unchanged, 679 untraded and 31 others suspended.
Volume, however, was lower at 2.0 billion shares worth RM2.22 billion from 2.12 billion shares worth RM2.67 billion yesterday.
In a press conference earlier in the afternoon today, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced the appointment of Nor Shamsiah as the new BNM Governor for a term of five years, effective from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2023.
Nor Shamsiah was the Deputy Governor of BNM from 2010 until 2016, and she recently served as Assistant Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Division of the International Monetary Fund.
Meanwhile, Hermana Capital Bhd Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the rebound since mid-afternoon today was owing to the recent correction which dragged the local bourse to slightly more than a 15-month low yesterday.
"The market has experienced a correction of about 10.3% since the beginning of the year to yesterday, which is also the largest correction seen since 2009," he told Bernama.
Among heavyweights, Maybank edged up two sen to RM9.19 and Public Bank rose 30 sen to RM22.92, while Tenaga fell 14 sen to RM13.80, CIMB eased two sen to RM5.81 and Petronas Chemicals was unchanged at RM8.40.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy improved 4.5 sen to 64.5 sen, PUC and Iris ticked up half-a-sen each to 19.5 sen and 15.5 sen respectively, while Barakah slipped half-a-sen to 15.5 sen and MyEG was flat at RM1.00.
United Plantations led the top gainers list, bagging RM1.00 to RM27.30 while top loser was BAT which erased 96 sen to RM35.12.
The FBM Emas Index increased 16.57 points to 11,973.46, the FBMT100 Index advanced 13.43 points to 11,758.64, the FBM70 was 19.24 points firmer at 14,561.80 and the FBM Ace Index jumped 109.01 points to 5,267.46.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index was down 4.97 points at 12,041.89,
Sector-wise, the Finance Index soared 108.63 points to 16,854.96 but the Industrial Index eased 10.61 points to 3,118.97 and the Plantation Index shed 27.82 points to 7,509.76.
Main Market volume declined to 1.24 billion shares worth RM2.05 billion from 1.34 billion shares worth RM2.53 billion on Thursday.
Warrants volume added to 527.68 million units valued at RM133.23 million against 464.35 million units valued at RM102.31 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market fell to 239.03 million shares worth RM43.01 million versus 317.21 million shares worth RM43.59 million previously.
Consumer products accounted for 35.89 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (191.89 million), construction (88.94 million), trade and services (624.28 million), technology (43.55 million), infrastructure (35.29 million), SPAC (944,900), finance (63.53 million), hotels (9.95 million), properties (93.32 million), plantations (51.56 million), mining (7,000), REITs (1.52 million) and closed/fund (9,100).
The physical price of gold as at 5.00pm stood at RM157.89 per gramme, up 19 sen from RM157.70 at 5.00pm yesterday. — Bernama