Bursa Malaysia Remains Higher At Midday

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained higher at midday, buoyed by the industrial products and services, telecommunications and media, and financial services counters.

Sunway added 13 sen to RM4.85, Telekom Malaysia increased 17.0 sen to RM6.51 and CIMB went up 6.0 sen to RM8.27. These stocks contributed a combined 3.48 points to the composite index.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.64 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 1,607.68 from yesterday's close of 1,604.04.

The benchmark index had opened 0.86 of-a-point lower at 1,603.18 and moved between 1,601.02 and 1,608.88 throughout the morning trading session. 

The broader market was positive with gainers outpacing decliners 442 to 374, while 504 counters remained unchanged, 1,146 untraded, and 14 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.75 billion shares valued at RM995.81 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said following strong earnings by Kelington Group Bhd, in addition to the United States President-elect Donald Trump administration's proposal for a 60 per cent baseline tariff on Chinese imports, the research house remains optimistic about the local technology and glove sectors.

It said the intensified Ukraine-Russia conflict may also boost sentiments in gold and oil-related counters.

“We also favour the construction, property, and building materials sectors, supported by growing data centre investments, and remain positive towards East Malaysia companies, buoyed by their recent strong initial public offering performances,” it added. 

Among other heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional perked 8.0 sen to RM14.44, IHH Healthcare was 4.0 sen higher at RM7.26 and YTL Corporation added 3.0 sen to RM2, while Maybank eased 6.0 sen to RM10.28, and Public Bank slid 2.0 sen to RM4.48.

As for the active stocks, Aizo edged up half-a-sen to 15 sen, Life Water gained 6.5 sen to 92.5 sen, and Cape EMS went up 2.0 sen to 40.0 sen, while Classita and MMAG Holdings were flat at 6.5 sen and 44 sen, respectively.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index widened by 50.11 points to 12,163.73, the FBM Emas Index rose 32.87 points to 12,205.73, the FBMT 100 Index gained 32.68 points to 11,908.50, the FBM ACE Index picked up 14.86 points to 5,189.95, and the FBM 70 Index climbed 70.27 points to 17,934.16.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index bagged 0.07 of-a-point to 170.32 and the Energy Index appreciated 2.44 points to 830.31, while the Financial Services Index was 8.61 points lower at 19,201.93, and the Plantation Index reduced 35.62 points to 7,669.87.

-- BERNAMA