KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia were mixed at the opening on cautious trading, amid lower global crude oil price.
At 9.13am, the index eased 4.5 points to 1,638.71 from Wednesday's close of 1,643.21.
It opened 0.8 points better at 1,644.01.
On the broader market, gainers were slightly higher than decliners 150 to 116, while 212 counters remained unchanged, 1,378 untraded and 31 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 258.79 million shares worth RM89.28 million.
A dealer said some investors indulged in profit taking after the FBM KLCI climbed higher for the second-straight session yesterday amid stronger energy and crude palm oil prices.
Among companies that were under the limelight and making profit include Genting-related companies like Genting (+25.0 sen) and Genting Malaysia (+11.0 sen) which rallied after the latter announced its decision to acquire the Equanimity superyacht.
In its note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the proposed RM514 million acquisition is expected to boost the group’s competitive edge for its premium clients.
“Other large-cap winners were Public Bank (+30.0 sen), Nestle (+40.0 sen) and IHH Healthcare (+18.0 sen), which is looking to buy Jaslok, a hospital based in Mumbai,” the research company said.
Malacca Securities said overall, yesterday’s market conditions were much firmer than-expected on account of the renewed interest among selected index-linked stocks.
“With market conditions continuing to improve, we see further near term upsides as Bursa Malaysia attempts to play catch up to the gains in overseas indices but although we see further near term gains, the upsides could again be measured as market players remain cautious on their stock selection.
“At the same time, we also think there may be some mild profit taking that could also temper the upside potential following Moody’s move in trimming the country’s growth outlook for the next two years".
Of the heavyweights on Bursa, Maybank rose two sen to RM9.26, PetChem added four sen to RM9.12, Public Bank declined 30 sen to RM22.70 while CIMB was flat at RM5.12.
Of actives, KNM edged up one sen to 16 sen, Sino Hua-An improved 1.5 sen to 28 sen, Bumi Armada was flat at 19.5 sen while Gets Global was half-a-sen weaker at 34.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index decreased 18.35 points to 11,566.69, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 23.10 points to 11,403.59 and the FBM Ace Index shed 0.71 points to 4,833.63.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 2.72 points to 11,745.02 and the FBM 70 appreciated 4.36 points to 14,331.31.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index erased 21.87 points to 16,876.99, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.23 point to 169.36 and the Plantation Index was 14.69 points higher at 7,232.79. — Bernama
