SHARES on Bursa Malaysia ended higher yesterday as buying of plantation and oil and gas key heavyweights led the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) to close at an all-time high of 1,427.77, up 11.96 points or 0.84 per cent, a dealer said.
MIMB Investment Bank head of research Pong Teng Siew said the market rally was led by blue-chips like Sime Darby and IOI Corp.
"Obviously the re-listing of Sime Darby had provided a fresh impetus for the market and gave an upside to the KLCI," he noted.
He pointed out that as Malaysia is more commodity-driven, the local bourse had even outperformed some of its regional peers.
"Malaysia is also fortunate that at a time when some parts of the world are facing slower growth, government spending here has increased," said Pong.
The Finance Index surged 76.79 points to 10,913.6 and the Industrial Index rose 40 points to 2,960.77.
Of the FTSE-BM Index series, the FBMEmas rose 68.58 points to 9,633.07 and the FBM30, which comprises the top 30 companies by full market capitalisation, advanced 46.44 points to 9,156.56.
The FBM-MDQ went up by 75.31 points to 6,048.95 and FBM2BRD gained 42.53 points to 6,798.02.
SJ Securities analyst Phua Kwee Hock said the rise in crude oil prices to US$88.61 (RM255.95) yesterday had rallied the plantation stocks which in turn led the KLCI to touch a new high.
He expects the market to trade between 1,418 and 1,436 today.
Actives included Bio Osmo which fell 4.5 sen to 28.5 sen, FTEC Resources gained one sen to 37 sen, Supercomal Technologies inched up half sen to 15.5 sen and Hubline gained 1.5 sen to 62 sen. KBES went up five sen to 42 sen and Time Dotcom increased 4.5 sen to 80.5 sen.
Among blue chips, Sime Darby rose 30 sen to RM11.30, Maybank went up 10 sen to RM11.70, Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM9.90, Telekom Malaysia fell 30 sen to RM11.40 and IOI Corp increased 20 sen to RM6.85.
Meanwhile, KLCI futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended higher yesterday on the back of a firmer cash market.
At the close, spot December rose 29 points to 1,445.0, January 2008 futures gained 31 points to 1,443.0, March 2008 added 29.5 points to 1,431.5 and faraway June 2008 futures climbed 28 points to 1,412.0.
*The KLCI surge again today! Its 5mins to closing! I personally think oil and gas are the shares that give good returns in the long term and short term investment, as the world is thirst for this commodity.!
