Window Dressing Lifts FBM KLCI To Over 15-month High At Midday

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 (Bernama) -- Year-end window dressing continued to support Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI), keeping the index above a 15-month high at midday.

At 12.30 pm, the barometer index increased 1.49 points or 0.89 per cent to 1,678.13 from Tuesday’s close of 1,676.64.

The benchmark index, which opened 0.64 points lower at 1,676.0, traded between 1,673.96 and 1,678.85 during the session.

However, in the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers 464 to 379, while 509 counters were unchanged, 1,421 were untraded, and 50 were suspended.

Turnover reached 1.0 billion units valued at RM797.50 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng opined that the market’s undertone will remain sturdy ahead of the Christmas break as foreign funds may be looking at domestic stocks as an avenue for portfolio rebalancing.

“Meanwhile, the ringgit has strengthened to 4.06 against the US dollar, hence expect the index to hover within the 1,670-1,685 today,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost six sen to RM10.48, CIMB fell two sen to RM8.16, while Public Bank and IHH Healthcare decreased one sen to RM4.51 and RM8.61, respectively. Tenaga Nasional added two sen to RM13.68.

On the most active list, Pharmaniaga and Zetrix AI slid half a sen to 29 sen and 81 sen, respectively. Tanco was three sen weaker at RM1.12, while Reneuco was one sen firmer at 5.0 sen. Mega Fortis and Avangaad were flat at 78 sen and 32 sen, respectively.

Of the top gainers, United Plantations rose 50 sen to RM29.90, Petronas Gas added 26 sen to RM18.26, MI Technovation increased 15 sen to RM2.95, and Country View gained 10 sen to RM2.90.

As for the top losers, Fraser & Neave edged down 48 sen to RM36.06, Malaysian Pacific lost 24 sen to RM32.50, while Petronas Dagangan and Hong Leong Industries slid 10 sen to RM19.66 and 16.60, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 4.02 points to 12,305.50, the FBMT 100 Index grew 6.72 points to 12,107.20, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index inched up 20.72 points to 12,126.75.

In contrast, the FBM 70 Index eased 9.07 points to 16,866.41, and the FBM ACE Index fell by 26.45 points to 4,805.99.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index accumulated by 25.62 points to 8,259.90, and the Industrial Products and Services Index garnered 0.36 of a point to 173.70. The Energy Index shaved off 1.81 points to 764.37, and the Financial Services Index notched down 51.92 points to 19,613.60.

-- BERNAMA