KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Bursa Malaysia continued its uptrend at mid-afternoon, buoyed mostly by buying interest in finance-linked heavyweights as well as oil and gas (O&G) related counters.
At 3.05pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,840.53, up 12.33 points from Monday’s close of 1,828.20.
The index opened 8.25 points lower at 1,819.95.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbering losers 516 to 314 with 353 counters unchanged, 678 counters untraded and 15 others suspended.
Volume stood at 1.36 billion units valued at RM1.22 billion.
Of heavyweights, Maybank gained 10 sen to RM10.64, CIMB added 11 sen to RM6.78, RHB Bank improved 20 sen to RM5.29, Axiata perked seven sen to RM5.18 and Petronas Gas was 30 sen firmer at RM17.88.
For actives, O&G-related counters such as Sapura Energy advanced 2.5 sen to 66.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum increased four sen to 86.5 sen, while UMW O&G was flat at 27.5 sen.
Nexgram ticked up half-a-sen at 6.5 sen and Opcom Holdings was 21 sen better at 65.5 sen.
Among gainers, Nestle rose RM2.70 to RM137.80, Hong Leong Financial was 38 sen higher at RM18.94, Dutch Lady bagged 30 sen for RM66.80, United Plantations was 22 sen firmer at RM26.94 and Shangri-La edged up 20 sen to RM5.80.
The FBM Emas Index leapt 82.91 points to 12,835.92, the FBMT 100 Index increased 81.69 points to 12,649.90, the FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 58.68 points to 13,029.34, the FBM Ace added 66.51 points to 5,179.04 and the FBM 70 was higher by 87.81 points at 15,219.37.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index soared 184.60 points to 17,978.19, the Industrial Index improved 15.86 points to 3,200.12 and the Plantation Index inched up 5.63 points to 7,847.51. — Bernama
