BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS MARGINALLY HIGHER

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed marginally higher today as gains in utility giants were trimmed by profit-taking in selected index-linked telecommunication heavyweights, analysts said.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.43 points to 1,616.75 compared to Wednesday's close of 1,615.32. 

The benchmark index, which opened 0.64 of-a-point firmer at 1,615.96, moved between 1,614.71 and 1,619.75 throughout the trading session.

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 586 to 558, with 495 counters unchanged, 764 untraded and six others suspended.

Turnover fell to 4.93 billion units worth RM3.79 billion from yesterday’s 5.47 billion units worth RM4.0 billion.

Apex Securities Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong expects the key index stabilise above the 1,600 level, backed by the improving trading sentiment alongside the return of foreign funds.

He said volatility may subside with the US markets closed for Independence Day today.

“The lower liners are also marching on amid rotational plays in selective sectors. For tomorrow, investors will be monitoring the Eurozone retail sales as well as US unemployment rate data to gauge the health of their economies,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Maybank rose eight sen to RM10.10, Tenaga Nasional added six sen to RM14.20 and CIMB gained four sen to RM7.0. Both Public Bank and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM4.05 and RM6.33 respectively.

Among the most active counters, Ocean Fresh increased 49 sen to 77 sen, Malayan United was 1.5 sen firmer at 9.0 sen and Dataprep went up 2.5 sen to 19.5 sen. Widad fell half-a-sen to 6.0 sen while Appasia was flat at 16 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased by 15.94 points to 12,476.68, the FBMT 100 Index edged up 16.05 points to 12,044.63, the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded by 2.22 points to 12,828.84, the FBM 70 Index garnered 44.27 points to 18,393.92, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 14.53 points to 5,959.83.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index put on 47.73 points to 17,660.63, the Energy Index increased by 1.48 points to 989.56, and the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 0.08 of-a-point to 199.19.

However, the Plantation Index eased by 12.12 points to 7,013.91.

The Main Market volume decreased to 2.82 billion units valued at RM3.16 billion from 2.97 billion units valued at RM3.28 billion on Wednesday.

Warrants turnover declined to 864.53 million units worth RM131.23 million compared with 1.10 billion units worth RM156.70 million previously.

The ACE Market volume fell to 1.25 billion shares valued at RM493.72 million against 1.39 billion shares valued at RM554.84 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 497.03 million shares traded on the Main Market; industrial products and services (528.67 million); construction (369.14 million); technology (401.70 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (77.23 million); property (322.59 million); plantation (25.70 million); REITs (18.49 million); closed/fund (29,100); energy (169.12 million); healthcare (159.91 million); telecommunications and media (50.28 million); transportation and logistics (90.03 million); utilities (105.73 million); and business trusts (5.57 million).

-- BERNAMA