Bursa Malaysia Remains Higher At Midday On Buying Interest In Selected Blue Chips

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained higher at midday as buying interest continued in selected blue chips led by utilities and banking counters, analysts said. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 0.26 per cent, or 4.24 points, to 1,589.41 from Thursday’s close of 1,585.17.  

The benchmark index, which opened 1.55 points lower at 1,583.62, moved between 1,582.92 and 1,590.86 throughout the morning session. 

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 575 to 336, while 417 counters were unchanged, 989 untraded and 22 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.67 billion units worth RM1.08 billion. 

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that the ongoing US-China trade war has prompted manufacturers to diversify their production bases, further solidifying the China plus one strategy and strengthening Malaysia’s position as a strategic industrial hub, which may benefit the construction, building materials, and utilities sectors.

Technically, resistance is anticipated to be around 1,600-1,605 points, while support is set at 1,565 to 1,570 points for today, said the brokerage firm in a note. 

Among the heavyweights, YTL Power added 17 sen to RM3.40 sen, CIMB and TM rose 12 sen each to RM8.34 and RM6.76, respectively, YTL Corporation climbed 7.0 sen to RM2.04, and Gamuda increased 9.0 sen to RM4.51.

Of the most active stocks, MyEG Services gained 2.5 sen to RM1.01, Velesto weakened by half-a-sen to 18.5 sen, Harvest Miracle Capital shed 2.0 sen to 17.5 sen, and Supermax bagged 2.0 sen to RM1.22.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 50.15 points to 12,141.56, the FBMT 100 Index grew 47.71 points to 11,832.65, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 42.84 points better at 11,984.03.

The FBM ACE Index appreciated 8.82 points to 5,255.69, and the FBM 70 Index jumped 136.10 points to 18,037.06

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index perked up 50.23 points to 19,199.97, but the Plantation Index fell 1.73 points to 7,466.61, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.18 of-a-point to 166.63, and the Energy Index rose by 0.40 of-a-point to 827.88.

-- BERNAMA