Bursa Malaysia Higher At Midday

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia was higher at midday today as window dressing activities continue in certain counters led by utilities and financial services. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 0.23 per cent or 3.71 points to 1,601.04 from Tuesday’s close of 1,597.33. 

The index opened unchanged and moved between 1,594.75 and 1,602.38 throughout the morning session. 

Market breadth was slightly negative as decliners outnumbered gainers 429 to 384, while 527 counters were unchanged, 1,131 untraded and 10 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.35 billion units worth RM941.73 million. 

Among heavyweight counters, Tenaga Nasional was 22 sen higher at RM14.02, Hong Leong Bank gained 18 sen to RM20.30, YTL Corporation rose 3.0 sen to RM2.15, Hong Leong Financial Group increased 18 sen to RM18.12, and Petronas Chemicals Group added 2.0 sen to RM4.80. 

Of the most active stocks, ACE Market debutant Carlo Rino Group was 4.5 sen lower at 22.5 sen, Supermax was 8.0 sen higher to RM1.18, Top Glove perked up 6.0 sen to RM1.37, Jati Tinggi put on 6.5 sen to 47 sen, Kinergy Advancement (KAB) increased half-a-sen to 34.5 sen, and Pestech grew 1.5 sen to 18.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 21.18 points to 12,304.32, the FBM Emas Index rose 18.00 points to 12,280.03 and the FBMT 100 Index gained 20.23 points to 11,966.22.

The FBM 70 Index was up by 3.95 points to 18,414.02 and the FBM ACE Index increased 9.42 points to 5,251.28.

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index shaved 0.07 of a point to 172.07, and the Energy Index dropped 5.16 points to 811.50.

The Financial Services Index climbed 21.93 points to 18,957.94 and the Plantation Index  edged up 3.31 points to 7,631.40.

-- BERNAMA