KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 ― Gains in Petronas Chemicals and other selected blue chips continued to drive the key index higher on Bursa Malaysia at mid-morning.
At 11.01am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 6.79 points firmer at 1,818.39.
Petronas Chemicals contributed 2.999 points to the composite index, after surging 21 sen to RM9.71 with 1.23 million shares changing hands.
A dealer said sentiment in the Asian market was positive following the upbeat close of Wall Street last night due to the new US-Mexico trade deal.
On Bursa, market breadth on the broader market was not favourable as losers led gainers 391 to 297 with 351 counters unchanged, 858 untraded and 56 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.05 billion shares worth RM585.48 million.
Daiman topped the gainers list in rising 65 sen to RM2.82, while BAT was the biggest loser after declining 64 sen to RM35.86.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank and Tenaga rose two sen each to RM9.95, RM25 and RM15.74 respectively, while CIMB added four sen to RM6.
Among actives, Sapura Energy slid three sen to 34.5 sen, while Vivocom, MQTech and Ucrest were flat at three sen, 4.5 sen and 31.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index rose 19.57 points to 12,770.62, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 26.14 points to 12,569.6, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 35.76 points to 12,919.72.
The FBM 70 fell 39.31 points to 15,380.92 and the FBM Ace Index lost 26.13 points to 5,374.94.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index was 22.43 points higher at 17,774.01 and the Industrial Index bagged 9.14 points to 3,253.1.But, the Plantation Index declined 17.73 points to 7,572.85. ― Bernama
