Bursa Malaysia Extends Midday Gains
KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia extended its gains at midday, tracking advances across regional markets as sustained buying interest in heavyweight counters continued to provide support.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) leapt 14.31 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 1,676.14, from Thursday's close of 1,661.83.
The benchmark index opened 3.90 points higher at 1,665.73 and traded between 1,662.91 and 1,677.65 during the session.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers by 499 to 368, while 475 counters were unchanged, 1,308 untraded, and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.67 billion shares worth RM899.83 million.
Regionally, Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index rose 0.69 per cent to 4,056.78, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.28 per cent to 69,614.16, South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index advanced 4.56 per cent to 7,996.82, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.36 per cent to 5,235.90.
Apex Securities Bhd said in a note today that the softer United States (US) payrolls print rewrites the near-term policy calculus, draining urgency from the US interest rate-hike trade and giving emerging-market currencies room to breathe, with the ringgit up 0.33 per cent against the dollar even as foreign equity money continued to flow out.
It said banks deserve close attention for follow-through as receding US hike risk and a firmer ringgit provide the sector with a more favourable operating backdrop, and the sector's leadership is what any index recovery currently rests on.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank gained 12 sen to RM10.86, CIMB added 10 sen to RM7.55, Tenaga Nasional increased four sen to RM14.30, and Public Bank was one sen higher at RM4.85, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM8.17.
As for the active stocks, Velesto bagged 2.5 sen to 29 sen, Eckem Holdings inched up half a sen to 12.5 sen, Zetrix AI increased 1.5 sen to 79.5 sen, Silver Ridge gained four sen to 21 sen, while Tanco was flat at 17.5 sen.
On the gainers list, Binastra climbed eight sen to RM2.14, F&N jumped 68 sen to RM28.78, KL Kepong added 52 sen to RM21.48, Dutch Lady soared 24 sen to RM32.30, and PPB bagged 16 sen to RM9.49.
Of the decliners, Nestle shed 92 sen to RM91.08, Malaysian Pacific Industries lost 32 sen to RM47.74, United Plantations declined 22 sen to RM33.26, Far East dropped nine sen to RM3.81, and Gas Malaysia trimmed seven sen to RM5.13.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index advanced 88.01 points to 12,438.68, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 87.02 points to 12,266.65, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index firmed 79.25 points to 12,284.30.
The FBM Mid 70 Index climbed 51.26 points to 17,835.95, while the FBM ACE Index advanced 12.65 points to 4,866.10.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 150.10 points to 19,776.34, the Industrial Products and Services Index went up 2.60 points to 182.05, and the Energy Index gained 7.70 points to 757.36, while the Plantation Index grew 51.10 points to 8,939.51.
-- BERNAMA