KUALA LUMPUR: Investor sentiment continued to pick up over the course of Friday's early session ahead of the government's plans to announce a second stimulus package to mitigate the damage to the economy.
Global equities and commodities were bullish on Friday following a pledge by G20 leaders to inject US$5 trillion towards minimising the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 22.32 points to 1,350.41. Trading volume was 2.21 billion shares valued at RM1.25bil. There were 742 gainers, 156 decliners and 235 counters unchanged.
The index advanced the positive performance of 27 out of 30 stocks. The biggest gainer was Public, which rose 52 sen to RM16.06, and Petronas Chemicals, which added 12 sen to RM4.77.
Other banks were also on the rise including Maybank up 10 sen to RM7.37, CIMB climbing nine sen to RM3.59, Hong Leong Bank gaining four sen to RM14.24 and RHB putting on seven sen to RM5.02.
Stocks falling into the red were IHH down seven sen to RM5.31, Axiata down one sen to RM3.39 and KL Kepong shaving 36 sen to RM20.14.
Most actively traded stocks were SAPURA ENERGY up 0.5 sen to eight sen, Ekovest up four sen to 41 sen and Lambo unchanged at one sen.
Asian markets were also boosted from stimulus announcement from key global economies. China's benchmark index was up 1.4%, Japan's Nikkei gained 2.5% and South Korea's Kospi added 1.5%.
Southeast Asia's leading market Singapore rose 2.5% following the announcement of its "resilience budget" that allocated US$33bil in support packages to businesses and households.
Thailand's Stock Exchange jumped 2.6% but it was Jakarta's Composite Index that rose a stellar 7.9%, on the back of an even more impressive 10% surge in the previous day.
Oil prices rose on the various stimulus announcements by governments, which improved the demand outlook. WTI crude rose 52 cents to US$23.10 a barrel and Brent crude added 30 cents to US$26.64 a barrel.
On the forex market, an increase in risk appetite sent the ringgit higher against key currencies. It rose 1.6% against the US dollar to 4.2600, 1.3% against the pound sterling to 5.2147 and 1.3% against the Singapore dollar to 2.9844.
https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2020/03/27/buying-sentiment-increases-ahead-of-stimulus-package-announcement
