KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — Late buying in selected heavyweights lifted Bursa Malaysia out of negative territory to end slightly higher today as investors digested the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) 2021-2025, dealers said.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) earned 0.99 of-a-point or 0.06 per cent to 1,533.05, from Friday’s close of 1,532.06.

The index, which opened 0.83 of-a-point higher at 1,532.89, moved in a tight range between 1,526.14 and 1,533.51 throughout the day.

Market breadth however was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 587 to 424, while 439 counters were unchanged, 863 untraded and 16 others suspended.

Turnover fell to 4.38 billion units worth RM2.98 billion from Friday’s 4.78 billion units worth RM3.34 billion.

The 12MP roadmap, tabled in parliament by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today, among others, highlighted that the government’s financial position is expected to improve in 2023 with the strengthening of the economy after being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The roadmap is crafted with a development expenditure allocation of RM400 billion, four catalytic policy enablers and several bold innovative actions, aiming at restoring economic growth, address socioeconomic challenges and enhance national competitiveness to be a more resilient and sustainable player on the world stage.

According to the 12MP document released by the Economic Planning Unit, in the next five years, the country’s economy is expected to rebound and achieve stronger and more sustainable growth of between 4.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent per annum after having experienced a hiccup towards the end of the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) due to the health pandemic triggered by Covid-19.

Development expenditure in 11MP was RM260 billion.

Among heavyweights Public Bank and IHH Healthcare rose 4.0 sen each to RM4.08 and RM6.68, respectively, Petronas Chemicals advanced 15 sen to RM8.26, while Maybank was flat at RM8.10 and TNB slipped 1.0 sen to RM9.85.

Of the actives, KNM went up 1.5 sen to 24.5 sen, AT Systematization earned half-a-sen to 6.0 sen while Borneo Oil and DNex were flat at 3.0 sen and 81 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 0.82 of-a-point to 11,275.19, the FBMT 100 Index was 4.08 points easier at 10,969.44, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 17.39 points to 12,286.64.

The FBM 70 shed 48.89 points to 14,962.90, while the FBM ACE jumped 83.44 points to 7,245.66.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 0.70 of-a-point to 201.26, the Plantation Index went down 28 points to 6,323.65, and the Financial Services Index gained 38.05 points to 15,231.49.

The Main Market volume decreased to 2.74 billion shares worth RM2.46 billion from Friday’s 3.23 billion shares worth RM2.85 billion.

Warrants turnover went down to 339.78 million units valued at RM54.45 million versus 390.75 million units worth RM75.28 million previously.

The volume on the ACE Market rose to 1.30 billion units worth RM461.82 million from 1.15 billion units worth RM403.39 million on Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 433.26 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.06 billion), construction (129.07 million), technology (341.81 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (57.57 million), property (171.46 million), plantation (15 million), REITs (10.08 million), closed/fund (93,300), energy (337.37 million), healthcare (63.41 million), telecommunications and media (30.74 million), transportation and logistics (70.89 million) and utilities (19.97 million). — Bernama