KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 ― Bursa Malaysia's barometer index remained higher at mid-afternoon today, led by financial heavyweights, but in the broader market, losers were still ahead of gainers.
At 3pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 5.01 points to 1,605.30 from yesterday's close of 1,600.29.
The benchmark index opened 0.14 of-a-point higher.
The overall market breadth remained negative with losers outpacing gainers 563 to 443, while 415 counters were unchanged, 745 untraded and seven others suspended.
Total volume stood at 5.31 billion shares worth RM2.54 billion.
Most of the heavyweights also regained some traction with only five counters in the red, as investors piled into recently beaten-down counters, including financial, energy, plantation, telecommunication, and construction.
On the local front, Maybank increased five sen to RM8.33, CIMB was two sen higher at RM4.26, HLFG added 20 sen to RM16.96, Axiata expanded 14 sen to RM3.93, Genting inched up 17 sen to RM4.93, and MISC was 14 sen better at RM6.82.
Among the active counters, Ucrest went up 12.5 sen to 56 sen, Key Asic inched up two sen to 19.5 sen, and Censof expanded 11 sen to 49 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 26.37 points to 11,813.57, the FBMT 100 increased 28.19 points to 11,474.27, and the FBM 70 improved 14.14 points to 15,601.23.
The FBM Emas Shariah edged up 5.12 points to 13,216.05 and the FBM ACE was 54.72 points higher at to 8,624.90.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index turned negative, losing 1.26 points to 6,864.97, the Financial Services Index gained 58.50 points to 15,086.00, and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.82 of-a-point weaker at 195.38. ― Bernama
