By Abdul Hamid A Rahman
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened nearly unchanged on Wednesday, mirroring Wall Street's subdued overnight performance.
At 9.11 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 0.37 of-a-point to 1,642.40, compared with the previous close of 1,642.77. The index initially fell by 1.05 points to 1,641.72.
In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers by 209 to 169, with 280 counters remaining unchanged, 1,822 untraded, and seven suspended.
Turnover reached 154.74 million units, valued at RM121.03 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said that he believes the local bourse still has room to trend higher, as yesterday's selling was well absorbed.
"Although the daily trading volume remained low, we believe market velocity is improving, and we expect trading activity to increase over time.
"For today, we anticipate the index to trend within the 1,640-1,650 range," he told Bernama.
He added that as the corporate earnings season progresses, results reported so far have been satisfactory, with further positive outcomes expected from banks and telcos.
Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group rose 9.0 sen to RM7.94, Maybank fell 2.0 sen to RM10.58, Public Bank decreased 3.0 sen to RM4.64, and Tenaga Nasional dropped 10.0 sen to RM13.90, while IHH Healthcare remained unchanged at RM6.32.
Among the actives, MY E.G. Services climbed 4.5 sen to 95 sen, and Bina Puri added 1.0 sen to 39.5 sen.
Meanwhile, Cape EMS slipped 0.5 sen to 39.5 sen, YTL Power fell 8.0 sen to RM3.78, and Wentel Engineering held steady at 33.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased by 10.88 points to 12,440.65, the FBMT 100 Index rose 9.11 points to 12,097.72, the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged up 3.93 points to 12,363.11, and the FBM 70 Index gained 57.47 points to 17,970.11.
Conversely, the FBM ACE Index decreased by 0.22 of-a-point to 5,329.37.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 36.05 points to 19,233.20 and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.28 of-a-point to 181.88,
In contrast, the Energy Index decreased by 1.63 points to 932.92, and the Plantation Index fell by 0.41 of-a-point to 7,145.74.
-- BERNAMA
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
