Bursa Malaysia Opens Firmer Amid Heavyweight Buying Support

By Harizah Hanim Mohamed

KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened on a firmer note on Wednesday, with the key index climbing 0.46 per cent, buoyed by buying interest in heavyweight counters and tracking Wall Street, which ended broadly higher. 

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) raked in 7.06 points to 1,524.01 from Tuesday’s close of 1,516.95. The benchmark index opened at 1,520.86, higher by 3.91 points.

Market breadth was positive with 156 advancers versus 74 decliners, while 220 counters were unchanged, 1,919 untraded and 11 suspended.

Turnover stood at 81.25 million units, valued at RM46.47 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng elaborated that Wall Street ended broadly higher as traders hoped for a positive resolution from the ongoing trade discussions between China and the United States (US).

“Although the US has been sounding rather bullish on the negotiation, the situation remains fluid as China remains quiet,” he told Bernama.

Back home, the FBM KLCI, as usual, ended slightly lower, possibly due to foreign selling again, while the lack of interest in domestic equities has been quite profound of late, as trading activities have been muted over the past months.

“In the absence of fresh incentives, there was no allure for traders to delve into the local bourse, hence the waning interests.

“Even the initial public offerings were not spared, as most registered marginal gains at best. For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,510-1,520 range,” he said.

Among the heavyweight counters, CIMB added six sen to RM6.91, YTL rose five sen to RM3.56, Public Bank accumulated two sen to RM4.28, and CelcomDigi and YTL were three sen better at RM3.81 and RM2.05, respectively.

Among the most active stocks, MPire advanced half-a-sen to 12 sen, Benalec was 1.5 sen higher at 10 sen, Eversendai warrant was unchanged at 8.5 sen, KNM was flat at three sen, and CTOS lost two sen to 96 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 39.43 points to 11,433.55, the FBMT 100 Index improved 44.18 points to 11,203.73, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 33.28 points to 11,402.50.

The FBM 70 Index gained 34.50 points to 16,521.16 and the FBM ACE Index ticked up 4.14 points to 4,514.92.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index garnered 64.06 points to 17,758.37, the Industrial Products and Services Index notched up 0.27 of a point to 152.18, and the Plantation Index gained 20.14 points to 7,230.17.

However, the Energy Index trimmed 0.08 of-a-point to 723.23. 

 -- BERNAMA