KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) traded 0.08 per cent lower on the back of absent market participants in the early session.
At 9.05am, the index eased 1.35 points to 1,648.59 from yesterday's close of 1,649.94. It opened 0.77 of-a-point weaker at 1,649.17 this morning.
On the broader market, however, gainers outpaced decliners 133 to 66, while 159 counters remained unchanged, 1,898 untraded and 86 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 133.8 million shares worth RM63.69 million.
In a note today, Public Investment Bank Bhd was optimistic the FBM KLCI might trend higher today after US stocks closed higher yesterday, as the energy and financial sectors gave boost to the market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 140.90 points or 0.6 per cent to 25,657.73 after being up more than 200 points during the session. The S&P 500 index advanced 20.10 points or 0.7 per cent to 2,818.46.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank increased five sen to RM9.30, Tenaga added six sen to RM12.58, PChem gained six sen to RM9.11 and CIMB was one sen higher at RM5.13.
PBBank declined six sen to RM23.68.
Of actives, MRCB rose four sen to 88 sen, My E.G improved one sen to RM1.41,while Bumi Armada, Iris Corporation and Sapura Energy were flat at 18.5 sen, 15 sen and 33.5 sen respectively.
The FBM Emas Index decreased 1.11 points to 11,574.23, the FBMT 100 Index eased 2.42 points to 11,429.37 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 7.61 points to 11,663.12.
The FBM 70 improved 25.29 points to 14,189.59 and the FBM Ace Index expanded 8.64 points to 4,787.85.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 23.93 points to 17,032.72, the Industrial Products and the Services Index increased 0.23 of-a-point to 168.09. The Plantation Index increased 27.03 points to 7,172.62. — Bernama
