BURSA MALAYSIA TAKES A BREATHER TO TRADE FLAT

KUALA LUMPUR, June 14 (Bernama) -- Mild profit-taking capped Bursa Malaysia on Friday after yesterday's buying bout.

At 9.12 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 0.08 of-a-point to 1,610.25 compared to 1,610.17 at Thursday’s close.

The FBM KLCI opened 0.83 of-a-point higher at 1,611.

Gainers outpaced decliners by 287 to 237, while 389 counters were unchanged, 1,496 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Turnover totalled 421.34 million units worth RM218.15 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said both the FBM70 and FBM Small Cap indexes are charging towards all-time high.

"As anticipated, the bullish tone on the local front could persist as most of the indices have registered new highs, with the recent data centre trading catalyst.

"Thus, it looks encouraging for the traders to hold on to the technology sector as we think the hard disk drive, cloud and cybersecurity segments may flourish, while earnings from the industry have bottomed out," it said.

Other related sectors that could be benefiting under this theme include the construction, building material, property, utilities and renewable energy.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said consensus had upgraded earnings growth for 2025 and the benchmark index’s prospect for this year and 2025, thus revising the year-end target to 1,730 from 1,660 previously.

In the United States, both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 continue to chart record highs as sentiment remains very much in tune with recent weakness in May’s inflation data. The Dow Jones, however, ended lower.

At home, heavyweights Tenaga Nasional increased eight sen to RM14.22, while YTL was three sen higher at RM3.63 and YTL Power was four sen better at RM5.20.

In contrast, Press Metal shrank 12 sen to RM5.86 and MISC dropped three sen to RM8.44 after yesterday's rally.

Among the active counters, JCY eased one sen to 88.5 sen, Sunview bagged five sen to 79 sen, while Computer Forms and Aemulus gained 1.5 sen each to 18.5 sen and 45.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 2.07 points to 12,423.12, the FBMT 100 Index gained 2.62 points to 11,985.02, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 16.07 points to 12,793.63.

The FBM 70 Index shaved 16.85 points to 18,269.71 and the FBM ACE Index firmed by 42.54 points to 5,885.32.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 13.03 points to 17,573.07, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 1.12 points to 199.75 and the Energy Index shed 6.63 points to 1,005.61, but the Plantation Index improved 0.64 of-a-point to 7,028.46.

-- BERNAMA