KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 —The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) reversed earlier gains to close lower today but overall market breadth was positive as investors continued to nibble on penny stocks and selective heavyweights, said a dealer.
At 5 pm, the benchmark index closed at its intraday low of 1,667.83, down 4.93 points from Tuesday's close of 1,672.76.
Earlier in the day, the FBM KLCI hit an intraday high of 1,684.08 after opening 6.30 points higher at 1,679.06.
Market breadth was positive with gainers overwhelming losers 677 to 258 while 312 counters were unchanged, 617 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Trading was brisk with total volume increasing to 3.02 billion shares worth RM2.52 billion versus 2.31 billion shares worth RM2.03 billion on Tuesday.
Among heavyweights, Sime Darby Plantation jumped 11 sen to RM5.03, Genting Malaysia rose seven sen to RM3.26, Genting Bhd increased 10 sen to RM6.41, MAHB surged 22 sen to RM8.16 and RHB Bank added five sen to RM5.33.
Public Bank and TNB gained two sen each to RM24.68 and RM13.66, respectively, Maybank and CIMB were flat at RM9.47 and RM5.65, while Petronas Chemicals declined 44 sen to RM8.55.
Of actives, MY E.G. was 9.5 sen higher at RM1.05, Sino Huan-An rose four sen 20 sen while Sapura Energy, Bumi Armada and Hubline gained half-a-sen each to 30 sen, 15.5 sen and 5.5 sen, respectively.
Ancom fell two sen to 47 sen and Ancom Logistics inched down half-a-sen to nine sen after the companies were said to be linked to a former government agency chairman who was remanded over a contract award.
The FBM Emas Index expanded 23.32 points to 11,481.49, the FBMT 100 Index increased 7.89 points to 11,367.16 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 3.60 points to 11,355.42.
The FBM Ace Index jumped 97.75 points to 4,471.93 and the FBM 70 soared 182.24 points to 13,313.02.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index gave up 2.23 points to 162.91, the Finance Index went up 24.39 points to 17,369.76 while the Plantation Index rose 21.88 points to 6,966.0.
Main Market volume swelled to 2.15 billion shares worth RM2.35 billion from 1.65 billion shares worth RM1.89 billion on Tuesday.
Warrants turnover advanced to 465.93 million units valued at RM92.74 million from 300.21 million units valued at RM58.30 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market expanded to 401.55 million shares valued at RM75.51 million against 358.52 million shares valued at RM78.19 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 214.998 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (587.97 million), construction (235.26 million), technology (309.44 million), SPAC (1.10 million), financial services (46.26 million), property (160.23 million), plantations (34.27 million), REITs (5.31 million), closed/fund (1,000), energy (308.45 million), healthcare (77.36 million), telecommunications and media (50.03 million), transportation and logistics (75.87 million), and utilities (43.04 million). — Bernama
