Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session Higher On Sustained Buying
KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index ended the morning trading session higher, supported by continued buying interest in heavyweights, and in line with upbeat regional markets.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.98 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 1,712.28 from Monday’s close of 1,702.30.
The FBM KLCI, which opened 0.31 points higher at 1,702.61, moved between 1,700.54 and 1,716.64 during the morning session.
Market breadth was also positive with gainers surpassing losers 593 to 451, while 519 counters were unchanged, 1,196 untraded, and 14 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.96 billion units worth RM1.56 billion.
At the time of writing, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.13 per cent to 26,394.86, Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.21 per cent to 5,014.47, South Korea’s Kospi Index surged 2.34 per cent to 6,364.92, and Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced 1.28 per cent to 59,578.40.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said in a note today that the market is awaiting greater clarity on developments in West Asia.
However, it remains optimistic about utility players which continue to benefit from the country’s data centre boom and serve as proxies for Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s grid upgrades.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank was unchanged at RM11.34, Public Bank gained seven sen to RM4.76, Tenaga Nasional rose 22 sen to RM14.62, CIMB Group advanced 22 sen to RM7.81, and IHH Healthcare slipped four sen to RM8.74.
On the most active list, VS Industry added two sen to 21 sen, Zetrix AI was unchanged at 85.5 sen, Main Market debutant MTT Shipping eased three sen to RM1.00, AirAsia X climbed nine sen to RM1.39, and Sunway Healthcare was flat at RM1.93.
Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries surged RM1.50 to RM35.70, Hong Leong Financial Group rose 42 sen to RM19.30, Dutch Lady Milk Industries gained 36 sen to RM32.38, Hong Leong Bank advanced 26 sen to RM22.66, and UWC added 26 sen to RM4.81.
Of the top losers, Bintulu Port fell 34 sen to RM5.25, UMS Integration dropped 27 sen to RM5.88, Petronas Chemicals declined 26 sen to RM5.05, Fraser & Neave slid 24 sen to RM31.22, and Petronas Gas lost 16 sen to RM18.06.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 67.95 points to 12,451.73, the FBM Emas Index gained 73.02 points to 12,616.37, the FBM Mid 70 Index improved 76.84 points to 17,765.42, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 21.98 points to 12,445.65, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 50.64 points to 4,633.62.
By sector, the Financial Services Index gained 230.35 points to 20,247.80, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 2.27 points to 184.45, the Energy Index slipped 1.32 points to 804.74, and the Plantation Index declined 19.13 points to 8,852.99.
-- BERNAMA
