KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session sharply higher on the back of stronger crude oil prices and in line with regional peers, following the dovish statement by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) last week.
At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 10.59 points to 1,680.37 from Friday’s close of 1,669.78.
The key index moved between 1,673.90 and 1,687.13 in morning trade, after opening 5.14 points higher at 1,674.92.
Brent crude, an international benchmark for oil prices, gained 1.17 per cent to US$57.73 a barrel.
“This upcoming week will probably bring more questions than answers as investors have an ample opportunity to test the markets’ newfound bullish resolve.
“Traders will be laying the groundwork for the string of top-tier events such as the Federal Open Market Committee December minutes,” said Oanda head of trading for Asia Pacific, Stephen Innes.
He added that the US Consumer Price Index and the omnipresent trade uncertainly to watch over with US-China trade talks expected to resume.
Bursa Malaysia’s market breadth was positive with 530 gainers to 245 losers, while 293 counters were unchanged, 797 untraded and 22 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.48 billion shares worth RM767.82 million.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose 11 sen to RM9.46, Public Bank gained four sen to RM24.70, TNB jumped 48 sen to RM13.94, CIMB added six sen to RM5.69, IHH Healthcare increased seven sen to RM5.51 and Petronas Chemicals declined 21 sen to RM9.05.
Of actives, Ace market debutant DPI rose two sen to 27 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum was five sen higher at 94.5 sen, V.S Industry was up by 1.5 sen to 75 sen, Bumi Armada and KNM were flat at seven sen and 7.5 sen respectively, while Sapura Energy eased half-a-sen to 28.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index improved 97.53 points to 11,510.55, the FBMT 100 Index increased 91.55 points to 11,414.89 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 99.57 points to 11,456.48.
The FBM Ace Index appreciated 75.37 points to 4,369.80 and the FBM 70 surged 187.79 points to 13,211.59.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index soared 129.87 points to 17,371.66, the Plantation Index went up 44.27 points to 6,925.17, and the Industrial Products and Services Index was weaker by 0.34 of-a-point at 165.290. — Bernama
