Bursa Malaysia Up At Midday On Persistent Buying, Mirroring Regional Peers

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia continued its uptrend momentum at midday in line with regional peers, lifted by persistent buying in technology, consumer and utility counters.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 5.06 points or 0.30 per cent to 1,658.61 from Thursday's close of 1,653.55.

The index opened 4.93 points higher at 1,658.48 and fluctuated between the 1,651.10 and 1,664.80 levels throughout the morning session.

The broader market was positive with gainers leading decliners 592 to 436, with 401 counters unchanged, 1,061 untraded and 80 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.01 billion units valued at RM1.70 billion.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the stronger ringgit benefits the consumer sector, as evidenced by Farm Fresh Bhd and Spritzer Bhd's improved performance in the current quarter.

“Additionally, during the corporate earnings season, selective property, construction, and oil and gas stocks showed growth.

“In the commodity markets, Brent crude oil rebounded after a two-day decline, driven by a suspension of exports from Libya, while gold prices remained above US$2,500, reflecting potential interest rate cuts by September,” it said in a note today.

The research firm said investors are now closely watching US core personal consumption expenditure data, US Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, which is set to be released later tonight.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell eight sen to RM10.60 and Petronas Chemicals lost two sen to RM5.76.

Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.72, CIMB added 12 sen to RM8.12, and Tenaga jumped 44 sen to RM14.38. In contrast, IHH was flat at RM6.29.

As for the active counters, Velesto and Luster were flat at 21 sen and seven sen, respectively, Barakah gained one sen to eight sen, Notion and MYEG were half-a-sen higher at 94 sen and 89.5 sen, respectively, and Cape increased 2.5 sen to 37 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 55.81 points to 12,356.01, the FBMT 100 Index garnered 49.59 points to 12,055.46, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 60.71 points to 12,184.68.

The FBM 70 Index widened 119.21 points to 17,309.08 while the FBM ACE Index increased by 25.06 points to 5,106.14.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index dwindled 38.05 points to 7,248.99 while the Financial Services Index inched down 0.01 of-a-point to 19,475.59. 

The Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 0.56 of-a-point to 179.90 but the Energy Index put on 9.97 points to 923.43.

-- BERNAMA