Bursa Malaysia Higher At Midday
KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher, backed by continuous buying in heavyweights and mid-capitalisation stocks.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 10.32 points to 1,725.30 from Wednesday’s close of 1,713.76.
The FBM KLCI, which opened 3.0 points higher at 1,716.76, moved between 1,716.76 and 1,723.23 during the morning trading session.
However, on the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 469 to 440, while 497 counters were unchanged, 1,329 untraded, and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.99 billion units worth RM1.28 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research Thong Pak Leng said as of today, he anticipates the index to hover within the 1,710-1,720 range.
Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB) said despite improving technical signals and renewed foreign inflows supporting further upside, near-term volatility is likely to persist amid lingering West Asia tensions, global supply chain risks and a hawkish US Federal Reserve stance.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose six sen to RM11.02, Public Bank added 12 sen to RM5.17, CIMB was one sen firmer at RM7.72, while Tenaga Nasional fell eight sen to RM14.30 and IHH Healthcare slid seven sen to RM8.55.
As for the active stocks, Nationgate gained 18 sen to RM1.15, VS Industry increased two sen to 24 sen, Dagang Nexchange rose three sen to 47.5 sen, while Tanco lost 1.5 sen to 30 sen and Thriven Global down two sen to 10 sen.
Of the top gainers, Petronas Dagangan increased 32 sen to RM19.64, Fraser & Neave up 24 sen to RM29.34, United Plantations grew 20 sen to RM34.90, while IOI Properties firmed 15 sen to RM3.92.
Malaysian Pacific Industries led the losers list, falling 82 sen to RM44.92, while UMS lost 30 sen to RM8.01, Kluang Rubber shed 17 sen to RM6.28, Panasonic was 13 sen weaker at RM5.35 and Apollo eased 12 sen to RM5.73.
Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index rose by 67.60 points to 12,717.34, and the FBMT 100 Index gained 67.47 points to 12,547.99.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index racked up 54.72 points to 12,557.51, the FBM 70 Index increased 25.88 points to 17,911.66, while the FBM ACE Index narrowed 3.93 points to 4,907.82.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 138.79 points to 20,293.19, the Industrial Products and Services Index firmed 1.70 points to 188.45, and the Plantation Index strengthened 43.48 points to 9,484.44, while the Energy Index edged down 0.83 of a point to 769.33.
-- BERNAMA