Bursa Malaysia Pares Gains In Morning Session But Key Index Stays Up
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session slightly higher as gains in plantation stocks helped offset selling pressure in the financial sector.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.09 points, or 0.07 per cent higher at 1,595.38 from Friday’s close of 1,594.29.
The index opened 2.55 points higher at 1,596.84 and moved between 1,594.64 and 1,603.94 throughout the morning session.
However, the market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 518 to 428 while 443 counters were unchanged, 1,026 untraded, and 15 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.67 billion shares valued at RM1.06 billion.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it expects sustained buying interest in plantation stocks, supported by the continued upward momentum in crude palm oil prices and strong earnings reported by plantation companies.
“While the FBMKLCI retreated below the 1,600 level, we believe a rebound could emerge as we enter the window dressing period. Although the earnings of export-oriented (companies) were impacted by foreign exchange losses due to the ringgit's strength in the third quarter of 2024, we maintain a positive outlook on sectors such as technology and glove, which could benefit from the ringgit's depreciation of at least 7.5 per cent since the end of September,” it said in a research note today.
Heavyweight counter Maybank lost eight sen to RM10.12, Tenaga Nasional fell 18 sen to RM13.48 and IHH fell nine sen to RM7.17. CIMB and Public Bank were one sen higher each at RM8.26 and RM4.48, respectively. Of the top gainers, plantation major KLK jumped 62 sen to RM21.48, United Plantation bounced 60 sen to RM30.90 and Press Metal surged 26 sen to 4.90.
MPI and F&N added 18 sen each to RM24.04 and RM27.80, respectively.
Among the active stocks, Velesto eased half-a-sen to 15.5 sen while Ta Win, Capital A and Aimflex were flat at 2.5 sen, RM1.00 and 16 sen, respectively. Sime Darby Property gained six sen to RM1.49.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 48.82 points to 12,083.52, the FBM Emas Index added 8.54 points to 12,139.67 and the FBMT 100 Index went up 5.38 points to 11,829.17.
The FBM 70 Index dropped 1.91 points to 17,857.91 and the FBM ACE Index trimmed 21.08 points to 5,110.57.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 2.53 points to 172.82, the Plantation Index jumped 130.30 points to 7,662.12 and the Financial Services Index fell 87.54 points to 19,102.48. The Energy Index erased 5.49 points to 806.80.
-- BERNAMA
