Market Close KLCI hits new record close of 1711.29

Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 26 April 2013 17:37
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KUALA LUMPUR (April 26): The FBM KLCI, which hit fresh intraday
high of 1718.08 in mid-morning trades today, stayed buoyant the whole
day to end at a new record high of 1711.29 after active buying of blue
chips by funds.
Market sentiment was boosted by upbeat U.S. labour market data and
a Bank of Japan policy review.
At 5.00 pm market close, the benchmark index added 4.95 points or
0.3% to 1711.29 on turnover of 790 million shares valued at RM2.27
billion, after paring some earlier gains.
Gainers thumbed losers by 360 to 297, with 335 counters traded
unchanged.
The KLCI was pushed up by index-linked big caps Tenaga, MISC,
CIMB, Axiata, Genting and Maybank. These counters were among the
top most actives and top turnovers.
The top gainers were also led by blue chips: Petdag, Cview, UMW and
GAB, Carlsberg, AEON and Malaysia Airports.
“Foreign funds have been entrenched in the local exchange; with about
RM700 million in inflow this week, it was sufficient for an upswing,”
Interpacific Securities head of research Pong Teng Siew said.
He said an inflow of above RM300 million on a weekly basis will be sufficient to move the benchmark up.
Lee Cherng Wee, analyst at JF Apex Securities, said: "The market is tracking the US data and Japan policy review. The
sentiment is quite bullish."
On the local front, the market is betting that Barision Nasional under caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will win
the election by a simple majority and many have dismissed election risk, he added.
In the region, markets ended mixed after rising earlier today.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2%, trimming earlier gains that took the index up to a
six-week high, Reuters reported.
Hong Kong shares rose to their highest since mid-March. The Hang Seng Index ended up 0.7% at 22,547.7.
But the CSI300 of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings closed at 2,447.3, down 0.8% on the day and 1.9% on
the month. The Shanghai Composite Index shed 1%.
Japanese shares retreated 0.3% from a nearly five-year high as investors booked profits ahead of the Golden Week
holidays. The Nikkei closed down 41.95 points at 13,884.13.
Singapore’s STI rose 11.16 points or 0.33% to end at 3348.87.