KUALA LUMPUR (May 7): The FBM KLCI closed 9.12 points or 0.58% higher at 1,587.45 today, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, backed by bargain hunting in glove heavyweights. The higher crude palm oil (CPO) price also helped lift the benchmark index today.

Remisier Jeffry Azizi Jaafar said the KLCI extended the gains for the second consecutive day, thanks partly to investors who flocked to glove and plantation counters, with the largest gainers among the KLCI constituents being Top Glove Corp Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd and Sime Darby Plantation Bhd.

“Investors were bargain-hunting glove stocks after a few sessions of heavy selldown. The renewed buying interest was also due to the resurgence of a high number of Covid-19 cases worldwide,” he said, adding the benchmark index was also boosted by higher CPO prices, which breached the RM4,700 level yesterday. 

Notable planters that climbed were Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (up 32 sen or 1.44% to settle at RM22.52), and peers Sime Darby Plantation (up 12 sen or 2.61% to RM4.71) and IOI Corp Bhd (up two sen or 0.49% to RM4.1). The planters' climb lifted FBM Palm Oil Plantation-NC, which added 1.62% to 11,790.58, and Bursa’s Plantation Index, which ended 1.5% higher at 7,097.49.

The rise in glove stocks, meanwhile, helped push Bursa’s Healthcare Index up as the top percentage gainer among the bourse’s sub-indices, closing 2.3% higher at 3,158.65.

Across Bursa, gainers beat losers by 628 versus 418, respectively. Notable decliners by value included Nestle (M) Bhd and Petronas Dagangan Bhd. As for the actively traded, Focus Dynamics Group Bhd, Vizione Holdings Bhd, UCrest Bhd, and Tanco Holdings Bhd were among them.

The local exchange saw 5.39 billion shares worth RM3.41 billion traded today. The trading volume was the lowest in almost three months, after Feb 11's 3.21 billion shares. In terms of trading value, it is the lowest since April 14, when RM2.99 billion was recorded.

CNBC reported that Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Friday, with some indexes shedding gains, ahead of the US jobs report due later in the day that might provide some indication on what the Fed could do next.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 almost gave up all its gains to close 0.09% higher at 29,357.82, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.58% to 3,197.2. In China, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.09% to 28,610.65, while the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index closed down 0.65% to 3,418.87.