Bursa Malaysia Higher At Midday, CI Up 1.10 Pct

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session on a higher note, driven by continuous buying interest in selected blue-chip stocks amid window dressing activities.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 17.79 points or 1.10 per cent to 1,631.49, compared with yesterday’s close of 1,613.70. 

The benchmark index had opened 3.86 points higher at 1,617.56 and moved between 1,616.69 and 1,632.63 during the session.

The broader market was positive, with gainers surpassing decliners 506 to 412, while 508 counters remained unchanged, 996 were untraded, and 40 were suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.72 billion units, valued at RM1.16 billion.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a note, said that window-dressing activities by investors persist on the local bourse despite mixed cues from the US equities overnight as traders digest US jobless claim data released yesterday.

Among heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional surged 82 sen to RM15, Maybank added two sen to RM10.14, Public Bank rose three sen to RM4.57, CIMB gained eight sen to RM8.12, and IHH Healthcare improved by four sen to RM7.24.  

In active stocks, Vanzo stayed flat at 20.5 sen, MYEG and JCY rose one sen to 96 sen and 57 sen, respectively, while SNS Network was up half-a-sen to 67.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 113.14 points to 12,492.72, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 152.96 points to 12,506.45, and the FBMT 100 Index gained 117.79 points to 12,180.40.

Meanwhile, the FBM 70 Index gained 124.77 points to 18,692.65, but the FBM ACE Index edged down 6.58 points to 5,326.78.  

By sector, the Financial Services Index appreciated 90.90 points to 19,049.22, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 2.03 points to 174.38, the Plantation Index advanced 44.59 points to 7,585.70, and the Energy Index put on 1.26 points to 823.44.

-- BERNAMA