Bursa Malaysia Higher At Midday, In Sync With Regional Market Trends

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s key index turned higher at midday, in tandem with regional market trends and ongoing buying in selected heavyweights, particularly in the industrial products and services, as well as the financial services sectors. 

Petronas Chemicals added 26 sen to RM4.83, Maybank perked up by 10 sen to RM10.22, and CIMB rose 5.0 sen to RM8.26.

These stocks pulled the composite index up by a combined 6.51 points. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 0.36 of a point to 1,598.54 from yesterday’s close of 1,598.18.

The benchmark index had opened 1.63 points higher at 1,599.81 and moved between 1,588.99 and 1,599.94 throughout the morning trading session. 

However, the broader market was negative with decliners outpacing advancers 591 to 304, while 440 counters remained unchanged, 1,131 untraded, and 23 suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.22 billion shares valued at RM1.14 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expects some window-dressing (local) activities to emerge and if they occur, the impact may be rather subdued as sentiment has turned cautious over the past month.

“Therefore, we believe the local bourse will be stuck within a tight trading range of between 1,595 and 1,610 in the absence of any strong buying catalysts,” he told Bernama. 

Among other heavyweights, Sunway increased 9.0 sen to RM4.99, Public Bank advanced 2.0 sen to RM4.43, Axiata edged up 3.0 sen to RM2.31, while Tenaga Nasional slid 22 sen to RM14.08, and YTL Corporation gave up 11 sen to RM1.85. 

As for the active stocks, Zen Tech International inched up half-a-sen to 1.5 sen, MY E.G. rose 3.0 sen to 91 sen, Aizo shaved 1.0 sen to 13.5 sen, while MQ Technology and Perdana Petroleum were flat at 12 sen and 28.5 sen, respectively.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 39.43 points to 12,135.50, the FBM Emas Index declined 19.88 points to 12,146.0, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 16.39 points to 11,850.41, the FBM ACE Index ticked down 12.86 points to 5,176.74, and the FBM 70 Index erased 94.59 points to 17,882.06.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index bagged 1.08 points to 172.02, the Plantation Index weakened 59.94 points to 7,614.68, the Energy Index depreciated 6.57 points to 822.34, the Financial Services Index improved 66.59 points to 19,089.83.

-- BERNAMA