KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session on a firmer footing, supported by bargain hunting in selected heavyweights, led by IHH Healthcare, Tenaga Nasional and Kuala Lumpur Kepong.
Gains by these counters lifted the Composite Index by 3.97 points.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.83 points to 1,497.06 from Friday’s close of 1,492.23.
The benchmark index opened 0.44 of-a-point firmer at 1,492.67 and moved between 1,490.69 and 1,497.34 throughout the session.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 406 to 348, while 380 counters were unchanged, 1,108 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.39 billion units worth RM631.13 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a note, said it remains positive on the technology sector amid the extended uptrend movement in Nasdaq as well as the anticipation of better earnings from tech companies in the upcoming reporting season.
“The plantation sector may gain traction amid a jump in crude palm oil prices, but the oil and gas stocks may take a breather as the crude oil price is on a mild retracement,” the brokerage said.
Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd said with global equities showing signs of stabilising in reaction to hints of a slower pace of interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve last week — “no news may be good news” for now. It said for the week ahead, the calendar of events is fairly quiet on the macro front with just Malaysia’s manufacturing PMI scheduled to be out later today.
Among the heavyweights, IHH Healthcare rose 17 sen to RM6.56, Tenaga Nasional bagged 10 sen to RM8.36 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong improved 24 sen to RM22.16.
Maybank fell one sen to RM8.85, Public Bank lost two sen to RM4.62, and both Petronas Chemical and CIMB added four sen each to RM8.92 and RM5.25 respectively.
Of the actives, CSH Alliance, Metronic, and South Malaysia Industries were flat at seven sen, 14 sen and 39.5 sen, respectively, while Sedania dipped one sen to 42.5 sen and Dagang Nexchange increased half-a-sen to 81 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index bagged 35.97 points to 10,637.88, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 60.13 points to 10,794.90, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 32.52 points to 10,385.40, the FBM ACE put on 16.80 points to 4,864.80, and the FBM 70 jumped 36.0 points to 12,794.44.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index accumulated 66.0 points to 7,064.34, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.20 points to 185.57, the Energy Index expanded 4.91 points to 676.15, but the Financial Services Index shaved 0.33 of-a-point to 16,645.06. — Bernama
