Bursa Malaysia Higher At Midday On Bargain Hunting Activities

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- The emergence of bargain-hunting activities after significant oversold conditions further boosted Bursa Malaysia's key index to end the morning session higher today, a dealer said. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 19.32 points, or 1.22 per cent, to 1,593.71 from Tuesday's close of 1,574.39. 

The FBM KLCI opened 1.73 points higher at 1,576.12 and moved between 1,563.77 and 1,596.60 during the morning session.

On the broader market, advancers surpassed gainers 905 to 281, while 351 counters were unchanged, 880 untraded, and eight others suspended. 

Total turnover amounted to 3.15 billion units valued at RM1.98 billion.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd opined that the market will still focus on the fallout from the Japanese Yen reverse carry trade and trade cautiously, and thus, the upside could be limited for now.

"Also, we favour selected finance stocks within the uptrend phase," it said.

Malacca Securities also noted that Hartalega's improved results could provide decent buying support for the glove industry, as it started rewarding shareholders with dividends after stopping for two years.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM10.12, Public Bank rose three sen to RM4.23, Tenaga Nasional gained 50 sen to RM14.14, CIMB climbed 10 sen to RM7.30, and IHH Healthcare perked up three sen to RM6.24.  

Of the actives, Cape EMS widened 3.5 sen to 44 sen, MyEG edged up 1.5 sen to 90 sen, MQ Technology was half-a-sen higher to 1.5 sen, while Jiankun eased 1.5 sen to 6.5 sen, and Saudee remained unchanged at two sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index appreciated 174.56 points to 12,105.85, the FBMT 100 Index garnered 161.80 points to 11,758.78, the FBM Emas Shariah Index better 189.55 points to 12,237.77, the FBM 70 Index surged 312.31 points to 17,539.46, and the FBM ACE Index expanded 121.52 points to 5,182.38.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index was 22.25 points firmer at 906.06, the Construction Index inched up by 6.58 points to 278.48, the Utilities Index increased 44.04 points to 1,748.86, the Financial Services Index picked up 122.19 points to 18,016.26 and the Industrial Products and Services Index lifted 2.10 points to 177.96.

Meanwhile, the Plantation Index dropped 31.0 points to 7,044.44.

-- BERNAMA