KUALA LUMPUR (May 27): Continuous buying of selected rubber glove stocks led to the FBM KLCI closing 14.97 points or 1.04% higher today.

The benchmark index settled at 1,451.73 points after moving in positive territory — between 1,446.42 and 1,458.24 — throughout the trading session.

Two rubber glove makers — Top Glove Corp Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd — were the top gainers among the KLCI’s 30 component stocks, both rising by 8.8% for the day.

Top Glove advanced RM1.04 to RM12.86, with 32.34 million shares done, while Hartalega jumped 88 sen to RM10.88, with 12.68 million shares traded.

Rakuten Trade Research vice-president Vincent Lau said the positive sentiment that drove glove stocks higher was also seen in other counters.

“This was in line with the overnight gains seen in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the US,” he said, adding that key regional bourses also finished higher today.

On Bursa Malaysia’s boarder market, gainers led losers by 582 to 406, while 397 counters remained unchanged. Some 7.2 billion shares worth RM4.78 billion changed hands.

Top active counters included Sanichi Technology Bhd, XOX Bhd, Key Alliance Group Bhd, GD Express Carrier Bhd and MyEG Services Bhd.

The top gainers were Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag), and rubber glove manufacturers Supermax Corp Bhd, Top Glove and QL Resources Bhd.

Losers were led by British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (BAT), Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Chin Tek Plantations Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd and MyEG.

Reuters reported that Asian shares slipped as investors were concerned over rising tensions between the US and China, moderating optimism about the reopening of the global economy.

“Worsening relations between the world's two biggest economies could further hobble global business activity already under intense pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” it said.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished 0.36% or 83.3 points lower at 23,301.36, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.34% or 9.74 points to 2,836.8.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.7% or 148.06 points to 21,419.23, and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.07% or 1.42 points to 2,031.2.