KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-afternoon, supported by Petronas-related counters which contributed 1.69 points to the index.
PChem and PetGas rose 10 sen each to RM7.09 and RM21.48, respectively, however, PetDag remained unchanged at RM23.80.
At 3pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 7.98 points higher at 1,643.51.
Gainers among heavyweight counters included Sime, which added 18 sen to RM8.37, Maybank rose seven sen to RM8.08, CIMB improved five sen to RM4.59 and RHBBank advanced eight sen to RM4.77.
On the broader market, gainers edged losers 441 to 285 with 320 counters unchanged, 681 untraded and 21 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.19 billion shares worth RM752.79 million.
The local bourse tracked the positive momentum across Asian markets with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 2.51 per cent to 19,594.16, Singapore Strait Times rose one per cent to 2,928.02 and Seoul Composite inched up 0.08 per cent to 2,045.64.
However, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd said, in a note, today that trading sentiment on Bursa Malaysia may remain on a softer tone as Brent crude oil price took a pause after hitting an 18-month high of US$58.37 per barrel.
“Hence, we may expect short-term consolidation after a mild breakout on selected oil and gas stocks,” it said.
Among actives, Armada improved half-a-sen to 65 sen, SK Petrol added four sen to 1.72 sen while Perisai, Iris, Hibiscs and Bornoil were flat at nine sen, 11.5 sen, 43.5 and 17.5 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index increased 51.40 points to 11,505.12, the FBMT 100 Index rose 49.98 points to 11,220.90, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 55.09 points to 12,076.70, the FBM Ace added 75.47 points to 4,844.17 and the FBM 70 rose 41.45 points to 13,147.48.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index added 82.55 points to 14,388.97, the Industrial Index increased 18.85 points to 3,148.34 and the Plantation Index advanced 8.26 points to 7,798.84. — Bernama
