Maybank Lifts Bursa Malaysia To Open Higher
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher on Tuesday, supported by buying interest in heavyweight counters, led by Maybank, despite renewed concerns over geopolitical tensions in West Asia.
At 9.14 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up by 1.83 points to 1,727.72, from Monday’s close of 1,725.89.
The benchmark index opened 1.63 points higher at 1,727.52.
Maybank contributed 13.18 points to the rise in the composite index.
However, market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 216 to 177, while 351 counters were unchanged, 2,107 untraded, and 16 suspended.
Turnover stood at 257.53 million shares valued at RM135.41 million.
In a note today, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said market sentiment remains cautious as the market enters a crucial stage of this quarter’s earnings reporting season.
“Meanwhile, we are heartened that the plantation sector has seen some upgrades, endorsing our positive stance since two quarters ago.
“For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,720-1,735 range,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank went up two sen to RM10.60, IHH Healthcare was one sen higher to RM8.15, while Public Bank and CIMB Group were one sen lower to RM5.09 and RM7.86, respectively, and Tenaga Nasional inched down four sen to RM14.44.
On the most active list, JAKS Resources and Ingenieur Gudang added half a sen to 14 sen and four sen, respectively, but Tanco Holdings edged down half a sen to 24 sen, while Luster Industries and JAG were flat at three sen and 38 sen, respectively.
Among top gainers, Fraser & Neave Holdings gained 30 sen to RM26.64, Kelington added 17 sen to RM8.71, Kuala Lumpur Kepong firmed 14 sen to RM21.70, Scicom (MSC) and Hengyuan Refining put on eight sen each to RM2.27 and RM1.95, respectively.
As for the top losers, United Plantations reduced 22 sen to RM32.78, Skyechip lost 14 sen to RM3.11, Hong Leong Bank declined six sen to RM22.68, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing and LPI Capital erased four sen each to RM3.42 and RM14.88, respectively.
Among the broader indices, the FBM 70 Index increased by 2.85 points to 18,290.70, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 13.57 points to 12,660.07, and the FBM Emas Index ticked up by 9.97 points to 12,819.14.
The FBM Top 100 Index improved 10.47 points to 12,627.65, but the FBM ACE Index decreased 13.44 points to 5,310.41.
By sector, the Plantation Index climbed 27.39 points to 9,341.01, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.50 of a point to 188.47, and the Energy Index appreciated 4.11 points to 781.73, but the Financial Services Index lost 2.85 points to 20,246.86.
-- BERNAMA