KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia were slightly higher at mid-day in tracking gains on Wall Street, coupled with higher crude oil prices.
The benchmark Brent crude rose 0.14 per cent to US$64.54 per barrel, amid fresh worries over a military confrontation between Tehran and Washington.
Petronas-linked counters rose in trading with Petronas Chemicals improving six sen to RM8.43.
At 12.30pm, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 1.30 points to 1,676.73 from Thursday’s close of 1,675.43, after opening 3.91 points lower at 1,672.24.
The index moved between 1,672.23 and 1,678.00 throughout the morning session.
Gainers edged losers 369 to 317, while 356 counters were unchanged, 845 untraded and 22 others suspended.
Volume stood at 1.19 billion units worth RM991.39 million.
Rakuten Trade in a note said the FBM KLCI had performed rather credibly and may re-test the 1,700 mark anytime soon.
Besides Petronas Chemicals, the research house also suggested investors to ride the wave by looking at other index-linked counters such as Maybank, CIMB, Genting Bhd and Hartalega.
However, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.93, CIMB rose five sen to RM5.28, Genting was down two sen to RM6.89 and Hartalega one sen weaker at RM5.22.
Of the actively-traded stocks, Mestron inched down half-a-sen to 15 sen, Iskandar Waterfront added six sen to RM1.10 and Ekovest was one sen better at 85.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index gained 27.77 points to 11,814.05, the FBMT 100 Index increased 27.63 points to 11,668.16 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 40.93 points to 12,173.69.
The FBM Ace improved 20.67 points to 4,382.59 and the FBM 70 jumped 110.28 points to 14,663.88.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 13.53 points to 16,705.53, the Industrial Products & Services Index inched up 0.58 of-a-point to 161.10 and the Plantation Index was 81.32 points stronger at 7,052.07. — Bernama
