Bursa Malaysia Higher At Midday

By Kisho Kumari Sucedaram

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session firmer today, boosted by positive sentiments following the end of the United States (US) dockworkers strike and the better-than-expected US monthly job data, said an analyst.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) expanded by 4.25 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 1,634.22, from Friday’s close of 1,629.97.

The benchmark index, which opened 3.61 points better at 1,633.58, moved between 1,628.12 and 1,637.29 throughout the session.

However, on the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 468 to 443, with 492 counters unchanged, 1,015 untraded and 15 suspended. 

Turnover amounted to 1.62 billion units valued at RM1.27 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that the FBM KLCI is expected to move within the 1,630-1,640 range today.

At the same time, he noted that the US Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) jumped 314 points while the Nasdaq added 219 points as the US Treasury 10-year yield edged higher to 3.96 per cent. 

Meanwhile, he said the crude palm oil price maintained its uptrend to hover above RM4,200 per tonne, spurred by the higher crude oil prices amid the tension in the Middle East and the lower ringgit.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank remained unchanged at RM10.50, Public Bank added six sen to RM4.59, CIMB rose three sen to RM7.95, IHH Healthcare gained two sen to RM7.24, while Tenaga Nasional slid 20 sen to RM14.08. 

Of the active counters, OCR Group and Euro Holdings trimmed half-a-sen to three sen and five sen respectively, and Sanichi was flat at 1.5 sen, while Dagang Nexchange and Bumi Armada added half-a-sen to 38 sen and 50.5 sen, respectively. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 31.38 points to 12,240.87, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 34.79 points to 11,935.36, and the FBM 70 Index added 64.52 points to 17,350.92.  

The FBM ACE Index expanded 9.96 points to 5,119.48, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 30.61 points to 12,144.82.  

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index firmed 21.32 points to 7,207.10, the Financial Services Index ticked up 29.20 points to 19,219.88 and the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.34 of-a-point to 176.44, while the Energy Index declined 0.68 points to 892.00.

-- BERNAMA