KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 — Bursa Malaysia resumed the afternoon session on a firm note today, spurred by continuous buying momentum in selected bluechips, as well as banking and consumer stocks.
At 3.04pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,734.2, up 3.21 points from yesterday’s close of 1,730.99.
Gains in Maybank lifted the composite index by 1.039 points. The stock rose six sen to RM9.01 with 7.95 million shares changing hands.
Among consumer stocks, Ajinomoto soared 48 sen to RM17.62, Nestle chalked up 38 sen to RM80.72, while Fraser & Neave improved 18 sen to RM24.08.
Market breadth was positive as gainers led losers 412 to 377 with 358 counters unchanged, 596 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.85 billion shares worth RM924.52 million.
The FBM Emas Index rose 27.54 points to 12,335.66, the FBMT100 Index increased 26.8 points to 11,974.91 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index chalked up 28.36 points to 12,787.77.
The FBM 70 edged up 49.85 points to 14,545.13 and the FBM Ace advanced 36.37 points to 6,037.99.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index soared 77.55 points to 15,642.26, the Plantation Index perked 13.3 points to 7,927.33, and the Industrial Index gained 6.05 points to 3,243.21.
Among the heavyweights, Public Bank and Sime Darby rose two sen each to RM19.92 and RM9.29 respectively, while both Tenaga and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM13.70 and RM7.60.
Of the actives, GSB Group added one sen to 13 sen, Anzo slipped 12.5 sen to 43 sen, while Borneo Oil was flat at 19 sen. — Bernama
