KUALA LUMPUR (April 21): The FBM KLCI rose 14.44 points or 0.8% as investors bought index-linked Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) shares to be entitled for the group's dividend reinvestment plan  

Malaysian shares had also tracked overnight US equity gains. Today,
the KLCI ended at 1,756.05 points at 5pm while Maybank shares added 32 sen to RM9.40 to become Bursa Malaysia's fourth-largest gainer.

“Today, Maybank's share price closed up 32 sen at RM9.40 after an announcement on its dividend reinvestment plan. This helped to push the Maybank counter up and kept interest in Maybank going very strong,” Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd research head Pong Teng Siew told theedgemarkets.com.

Companies' dividend reinvestment plans allow shareholders to convert their cash dividends into new shares. Yesterday, Maybank said it had fixed the issue price for new Maybank shares under its dividend reinvestment plan at RM8.25 each.

At RM8.25, shareholders will receive new Maybank shares at a discount to the stock's volume weighted average price of RM9.01, according to Maybank. The volume weighted average price took into account Maybank's share price for the five days ended last Wednesday (April 19), Maybank said.

Across Bursa Malaysia today, 3.12 billion shares worth RM2.65 billion changed hands. There were 588 gainers versus 320 decliners.

US shares rose overnight. Reuters reported that the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 174.22 points, or 0.85 percent, to 20,578.71, the S&P 500 gained 17.67 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,355.84 and the Nasdaq Composite added 53.74 points, or 0.92 percent, to 5,916.78.

It was reported that US stocks rallied on Thursday, with the Nasdaq closing at a record, as a round of solid earnings led by American Express pushed equities higher.