KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher in early trade this morning, ahead of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting conclusion due later today.
At 9.03am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.06 points better at 1,659.56, after opening 0.51 point easier at 1,657.99.
AllianceDBS Research said it expects the overall market action to reveal that buying power is weaker than selling pressure.
“As such, the FBM KLCI would likely trade below the 1,652.84 level today,” it said in a note today.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index advanced 5.5 points to 11,624.48, the FBMT 100 Index improved 4.87 points to 11,320.97, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 10.56 points to 12,247.08, and the FBM Ace rose 19.52 points to 5,471.86.
However, the FBM 70 lost 2.87 points to 13,229.27.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index contracted 5.15 points to 14,212.28, the Plantation Index declined 13.13 points for 7,573.84, but the Industrial Index rose 3.06 points to 3,114.06.
Market breadth was positive with 93 gainers and 48 losers, while 120 counters were unchanged, 1,442 untraded and 45 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 66.63 million shares worth RM31.06 million
Among heavyweights, TNB gained 12 sen to RM14.44, Public Bank rose four sen to RM19.60 and IHH Healthcare improved one sen to RM6.60.
However, Maybank shed a sen to RM8.03, while Petronas Chemicals was unchanged at RM6.60.
Among actives, TH Heavy inched up five sen to 20.5 sen, YFG added 15 sen to 55 sen but MBSB slipped one sen to 70.5 sen.
Malaysia Packaging Industry has requested for a suspension of trading today, pending an announcement of a corporate proposal involving the major shareholders of the company. — Bernama
