KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI rose 1.2% today, its highest in over three months, as the positive market sentiment continued to hold amid the spike in Covid-19 cases.

At the closing bell, the benchmark index surged 18.59 points or 1.2% to close at 1,570.10, its intraday high and also the highest since late October 2021.

Market breadth was positive, as 567 advancers outnumbered 399 losers. Meanwhile, 425 counters were unchanged.

The local bourse saw a total of 3.19 billion shares worth RM2.62bil traded.

Dealers said investors’ risk appetite picked up as they looked past the Covid-19 infections cases.

Malaysia reported 19,090 new Covid-19 infections on Feb 10, bringing the cumulative number in the country to 2.97 million cases since the pandemic began.

On Bursa Malaysia, Sam Engineering jumped 98 sen to RM24.48, Batu Kawan rose 76 sen to RM24.18, PMB Technology gained 74 sen to RM18.60 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong advanced 68 sen to RM22.74.

Complete Logistic lost 21 sen to RM4.04, F&N shed 20 sen to RM23.94 and OM Holdings fell 19 sen to RM2.91.

Hartalega fell 11 sen to RM5.05, MR DIY lost three sen to RM3.63 and Tenaga eased two sen to RM9.24.

Maybank, Public Bank and Genting rose five sen each to RM8.55, RM4.35 and RM4.65 respectively.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was flat against the US dollar at 4.1838.

US light crude oil rose 24 cents to US$89.90 and Brent added 13 cents to US$91.68 per barrel.