KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia were slightly higher tracking the Asian share markets, influenced by China’s upbeat February manufacturing activity, a dealer said.
Improved sentiment in the country he said, had helped boost the regional share markets as investors are buying shares in anticipation of an increasing share price.
At lunch break, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 5.49 points higher at 1,634.15 from Monday’s close of 1,634.15 after opening 5.17 points better at 1,633.83.
The index fluctuated between 1,631.79 and 1,639.32 throughout the morning session.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing decliners 406 to 287, while 373 counters were unchanged, 790 untraded and 29 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.67 billion shares worth RM907.68 million.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei index rose 0.20 per cent to 21,552.32, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng improved 0.09 per cent to 29,590.05.
The dealer said the finance and palm oil-related stocks received most buying support as at mid-day today with financial services index rose 100.18 points and palm oil index gained 123.53 points.
“Public Bank and Hong Leong improved 26 sen and 16 sen each to RM22.74 and RM20.14 respectively, while KLK and IOI Corp edged up six sen and one sen each to RM24.66 and RM4.48, respectively,” he said.
Of the other heavyweights, PetChem was flat at RM9.12, Tenaga went down by four sen to RM12.58, IHH erased 26 sen to RM5.31 and Maxis soared 17 sen to RM5.54.
Among actives, Gagasan Nadi inched up 1.5 sen to 28.5 sen, Sapura Energy added one sen to 35.5 sen, Perdana Petroleum gained 2.5 sen to 43 sen and Alam Maritim was three sen better at 14.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index increased 45.82 points to 11,526.22 and the FBMT100 Index appreciated 45.04 points to 11,373.34 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 18.92 points higher at 11,691.86.
The FBM Ace Index narrowed 0.88 points to 4,823.06, while the FBM70 edged up 84.43 points to 14,299.30.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 100.182 points to 16,837.55, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 0.15 of a point to 168.90, and the Plantation Index was 7.63 points higher at 7,195.77. — Bernama
