KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed the morning session slightly higher today, helped by buying in selected blue chips and amid a firmer broader market.
At 12.30 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged up 0.05 of a point to 1,862.36, after hovering between 1,860.74 and 1,866.57 throughout the session.
A dealer said the market barometer, however, is expected to continue trading sideways in the range of 1,860 to 1,870 due to the lack of fresh catalysts.
On the scoreboard, the Finance Index inched up 0.76 of a point to 17,383, the Industrial Index added 1.95 points to 3,237.81, and the Plantation Index perked 30.45 points to 8,500.8.
The FBM Emas Index edged up 1.17 points to 13,014.97 and The FBM Ace improved 6.66 points for 6,991.28.
The FBMT100 Index declined 1.02 points to 12,584.08 and the FBM 70 shed 7.25 points to 14,276.47.
Gainers led losers 401 to 311, while 297 counters were unchanged, 627 untraded and 22 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.87 billion shares worth RM944 million.
For the heavyweights, Maybank and Axiata were flat at RM10.08 and RM6.95 respectively.
Public Bank eased two sen to RM19.32, TNB dropped four sen to RM12.38 and CIMB shed five sen to RM7.14.
Among actives, Sumatec added 3.5 sen to 51 sen, PDZ gained 1.5 sen to 34.5 sen and RGB earned two sen to 15 sen.
Hubline and Globaltec were flat at five sen and 11 sen respectively. — Bernama
