Bursa Malaysia Stays Higher At Midday
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher as investors bought selected heavyweight stocks, led by the plantation and financial services counters.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 8.16 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 1,615.34 from Friday’s close of 1,607.18.
The benchmark index opened 4.6 points firmer at 1,611.78 and moved between 1,609.02 and 1,617.15 during the session.
Market breadth was positive, with 740 gainers outpacing 323 losers, and 430 counters unchanged, while 1,178 were untraded and 31 suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.50 billion units valued at RM1.29 billion.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Wall Street rallied on Monday, supported by easing US-China tensions and optimism over a potential end to the ongoing government shutdown.
“We noticed some buying interest in automotive stocks with anticipated rate cuts moving forward, we remain optimistic about the REIT and property sectors,” the brokerage said in a note.
Among the heavyweight counters, both CIMB and IHH Healthcare were up one sen to RM7.35 and RM8.31 respectively, Public Bank added three sen to RM4.23, Tenaga Nasional was 14 sen firmer at RM13.24, while Maybank was flat at RM9.89.
On the most active list, both EA Holdings and Aizo were flat at half-a-sen and eight sen respectively, Tanco and VS Industry rose two sen each to 88 sen and 53 sen, while MMAG fell by 2.5 sen to 56.5 sen.
Among the top gainers, Nestle advanced RM3.60 to RM108.60, Malaysian Pacific Industries rose RM1.08 to RM30.00, Hong Leong Industries added 24 sen to RM13.76. UMS Integration and Ayer Holding were up 20 sen each to RM4.68 and RM7.49.
Top decliners included Dutch Lady Milk Industries, which fell 46 sen to RM26.10, Batu Kawan slipped 30 sen to RM19.00, Fraser & Neave was 12 sen weaker at RM28.02, while Lianson and Binastra shed seven sen each to RM2.13 and RM2.25.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 78.53 points to 12,083.44, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 70.81 points to 11,812.83, the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 113.91 points to 12,171.18, the FBM 70 Index soared 151.06 points to 17,159.00 and the FBM ACE Index edged up 19.80 points to 5,298.69.
By sector, the Financial Services Index gained 32.24 points to 18,224.68, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased 1.06 points to 172.11, the Energy Index firmed 1.69 points to 790.62 and the Plantation Index rose 22.61 points to 7,883.47.
-- BERNAMA