KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 3): The FBM KLCI rose 29.54 points or 1.85% to 1,628.26 today while trading volume across Bursa Malaysia topped 12 billion securities as fund managers bought shares of Malaysian companies seen as beneficiaries of an anticipated economic recovery following a double dose of good news on the UK’s approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine and the sharp drop in Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cases.

Across Bursa at 5pm, 12.37 billion securities were traded for RM6.17 billion. Gainers led decliners by 907 to 401 respectively.

Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong Teck Meng told theedgemarkets.com that the vaccine news catapulted the KLCI to its intraday high as fund managers took positions in shares of companies seen as beneficiaries of an expected economic recovery following Covid-19-driven economic weakness due to global restricted movement policies to curb the spread of the outbreak.

“On prospects, owing to low base effect, Bursa’s corporate earnings for next year should look good. For banking stocks, banks have undergone some kitchen-sinking exercises and I believe when the situation improves next year, banks can reverse loan provision.

“For the tourism sector and other pandemic-battered stocks, judging from outlook [for next year] they may come back as well,” Wong said.

It was reported that the UK on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use and said it will be rolled out from early next week. "A vaccine is seen as the best chance for the world to get back to some semblance of normality, amid a global pandemic which has killed nearly 1.5 million people and upended the global economy,” Reuters reported.

In Malaysia, health director general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in statement yesterday (Dec 2) that the country had yesterday recorded 851 new Covid-19 cases, a sharp drop from the 1,472 newly-infected individuals reported a day earlier on Dec 1.

Today, Dr Noor Hisham’s latest update via Twitter showed that the country recorded 1,075 new cases and 11 Covid-19 related deaths.

Meanwhile, Bursa’s trading volume today rose to 12.37 billion securities, from yesterday's 9.22 billion units. The number of gainers today climbed to 907 from 640 yesterday.

A glance across Bursa indicates a broad-based rise across exchange indices, led by the Energy index’s 4.17% gain.

The Energy index, which tracks shares of oil and gas companies, closed higher after crude oil prices settled up more than 1% overnight on Wednesday.

Reuters reported oil prices settled higher on Wednesday, as Britain's approval of a Covid-19 vaccine boosted hopes for a demand recovery and on mounting expectations that oil-producing countries will maintain output limits next year.

Today, such sentiment augured well for Bursa-listed oil and gas companies, as their share prices rose, while trading volume emerged among most-active stocks.

The list included Sapura Energy Bhd and Bumi Armada Bhd. 

Sapura Energy’s share price closed up 0.5 sen or 4.35% at 12 sen, while Bumi Armada added 3.5 sen or 10.94% to 35.5 sen. Sapura Energy saw some 505 million shares traded, while Bumi Armada registered a volume of about 229 million units.