KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — Bursa Malaysia finished on a positive note, tracking the better performance of commodities such as the benchmark Brent crude oil and crude palm oil.
Petronas Chemicals saw its shares rise by 19 sen to RM8.56 while Sime Darby Plantation gained 18 sen to RM4.96.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 6.80 points or 0.41 per cent to end at the day’s high of 1,682.23 compared with Thursday’s close of 1,675.43.
The index opened 3.91 points weaker at 1,672.24 this morning and moved between 1,672.09 and 1,682.23 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers trumping losers 474 to 338, while 403 counters were unchanged, 672 untraded and 22 others suspended.
However, turnover fell to 2.23 billion units valued at RM3.05 billion from 2.27 billion units worth RM2.28 billion recorded yesterday.
A dealer said the local bourse bucked the regional trend to finish higher, thanks to its abundant natural resources.
“While some of its regional peers are struggling to track Wall Street’s exuberance, Bursa Malaysia, as a defensive market, received buying support led by industrial products and services and plantation,” he said, adding that the last time the index hit the 1,682.23 level was in February this year.
Today, Brent crude rose 0.51 per cent to US$64.78 per barrel amid fresh worries over a military confrontation between Tehran and Washington.
On the home front, export duty on crude palm oil is being maintained at zero per cent for July in a bid to boost palm oil exports and expand into new markets.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM8.94, Public Bank went down two sen to RM23.06 while Tenaga improved two sen to RM13.90.
As for the active stocks, cleanroom gloves exporter CE Technology Bhd, which made its debut on Bursa Malaysia’s Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) Market today, saw its shares increase by five sen to 29 sen, Iskandar Waterfront inched up six sen to RM1.10 and Ekovest was one sen better at 85.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index appreciated 63.23 points to 11,849.51, the FBMT 100 Index increased 63.45 points to 11,704.01 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 77.66 points to 12,210.42.
The FBM 70 jumped 145.50 points to 14,699.10 and the FBM Ace went up 35.42 points to 4,397.34.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 54.56 points to 16,746.56, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.6 points to 162.12 and the Plantation Index was 48.79 points higher at 7,019.54.
Main Market volume appreciated to 1.5 billion shares worth RM2.85 billion from 1.36 billion shares valued at RM2 billion recorded yesterday.
Warrants turnover fell to 450.77 million units worth RM98.29 million versus 540.16 million units valued at RM110.51 million.
Volume on the ACE Market decreased to 275.88 million shares worth RM96.62 million against 362.92 million shares valued at RM58.17 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 214.87 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (190.74 million), construction (171.34 million), technology (130.93 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (78.98 million), property (177.45 million), plantation (34.72 million), REITs (24.09 million), closed/fund (100), energy (299.76 million), healthcare (34.90 million), telecommunications and media (61.66 million), transportation and logistics (37.90 million), and utilities (38.60 million). — Bernama
