Buying In Tech, Petronas-linked Counters Pushes FBM KLCI To Intraday High At The Close

By Zarul Effendi Razali

KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 (Bernama) -- Persistent buying momentum, mostly seen in selected technology and Petronas-linked counters pushed the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to record another intraday high at the close today, extending its rally to five consecutive trading sessions, an analyst said.

Malaysian Pacific Industries and Petronas Dagangan were among the top two gainers, rising RM1 and 44 sen to RM22.40 and RM21.70 respectively.

At 5 pm, the FBM KLCI rose 8.68 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 1,550.21 from Tuesday’s close of 1,541.53. 

The benchmark index opened 1.8 points lower at 1,539.73 and subsequently hit its lowest level of 1,539.18 in early trade.

The broader market was broadly positive with 531 gainers outpacing 442 decliners, while 498 counters were unchanged, 920 untraded and 14 suspended.

Turnover rose to 3.11 billion units worth RM2.38 billion against 2.05 billion units worth RM2.15 billion on Tuesday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices closed mixed as investors weighed recent remarks by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, who noted that rate cuts would likely have occurred if not for President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

“In addition, there is growing investor speculation about a possible US-Japan agreement, even as Trump repeated his threat of 30-35 per cent tariffs on Japanese products,” he told Bernama.

On the domestic front, he said the benchmark index continues to show strength, supported by steady net foreign inflows and sustained interest in heavyweight counters.

“With a solid technical foundation above the 1,530 level, we raise our weekly target to 1,530-1,560, anticipating that the index will remain firm within this range barring any unforeseen circumstances,” he said.

Among heavyweights, Maybank added 4.0 sen to RM9.76, Public Bank went up 6.0 sen to RM4.32, CIMB and IHH Healthcare increased 3.0 sen to RM6.78 and RM6.83 respectively, while Tenaga Nasional declined 30 sen to RM14.60.

As for the most active stocks, ASM Automation eased half-a-sen to 16.5 sen, Tanco and Compugates were flat at 89 sen and 1.5 sen respectively, while YTL Corp gained 8.0 sen to RM2.45.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 57.5 points to 11,582.09, the FBMT 100 Index garnered 56.95 points to 11,360.77, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 38.42 points to 11,599.83.

The FBM 70 Index improved 53.87 points to 16,611.24 while the FBM ACE Index trimmed 12.92 points to 4,479.09.

By sector, the Financial Services Index jumped 104.12 points to 17,708.76, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.17 of-a-point to 154.47, the Plantation Index slipped 6.2 points to 7,395.96, and the Energy Index gained 5.63 points to 747.17.

The Main Market volume slipped to 1.27 billion units worth RM2.09 billion against 1.40 billion units valued RM2.02 billion on Tuesday.

Warrants turnover surged to 1.55 billion units valued at RM198.51 million from 426 million units worth RM45.13 million previously.

The ACE Market volume advanced to 283.75 million units valued at RM87.58 million versus 224.45 million units valued at RM83.02 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 208.81 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (206.02 million), construction (101.61 million), technology (140.18 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (71.67 million), property (245.04 million), plantation (16.31 million), REITs (16.29 million), closed end fund (4,000), energy (69.77 million), healthcare (56.63 million), telecommunications and media (45.36 million), transportation and logistics (24.23 million), utilities (68.02 million), and business trusts (18,000).

-- BERNAMA