Bursa Malaysia Pares Gains But Stays Up For Second Straight Day

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia pared gains but still ended up for the second straight session on Wednesday, supported by buying of selected counters in consumer products and services, as well as telecommunications and media sectors.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 1.82 points to 1,578.52 from yesterday’s close of 1,576.70. The index opened 1.47 points lower at 1,575.23 and moved between 1,573.95 and 1,582.34 throughout the day.

In the broader market, gainers beat decliners 604 to 409, while 532 counters were unchanged, with 1,013 untraded and seven suspended.

Turnover declined to 2.70 billion units worth RM2.80 billion from 2.90 billion units worth RM2.79 billion on Tuesday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse remains in consolidation mode despite today's brief gains.  “We reckon that a clear breakthrough above the 1,585 level with decent volume will pave way toward 1,600 and beyond. As for now, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,575-1,590 towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.

Market players will turn their attention to the US Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data for July later today, as well as Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee meeting tomorrow.

Among heavyweight stocks, PPB Group added 36 sen to RM9.40 and Maxis jumped eight sen to RM3.61. Maybank shed eight sen to RM9.98 and Public Bank dropped four sen to RM4.26.

In actively traded stocks, Tanco Holdings grew 9.5 sen to 80 sen, Sime Darby gained four sen to RM2.06, and TWL slipped half-a-sen to 2.5 sen. NexG shed two sen to 47 sen and TWL Holdings went down half-a-sen to 2.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 37.22 points to 11,726.53, the FBMT 100 Index gained 31.33 points to 11,495.52, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 78.33 points to 11,707.62.

The FBM Mid 70 Index gained 124.88 points to 16,489.40, and the FBM ACE Index bounced 76.97 points to 4,754.09.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 2.13 points to 163.49, the Energy Index increased by 11.02 points to 749.92, and the Plantation Index was 20.41 points higher at 7,605.89. The Financial Services Index declined 74.85 points to 18,071.96.

The Main Market volume improved to 1.60 billion units valued at RM2.54 billion from 1.56 billion units valued at RM2.54 billion on Tuesday.

Warrant turnover declined to 744.83 million units worth RM117.03 million from 976.94 million units worth RM134.03 million previously.

The ACE Market volume fell to 354.82 million units worth RM145.97 million from 359.72 million units worth RM119.32 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 257.73 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (225.94 million), construction (117.96 million), technology (193.60 million),  financial services (98.70 million), property (196.08 million), plantation (22.18 million), REITs (22.90 million), closed/fund (131,900), energy (223.91 million), healthcare (107.84 million), telecommunications and media (46.47 million), transportation and logistics (27.88 million), utilities (55.40 million), and business trusts (367,700).

-- BERNAMA