KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher on internal factors, as investors await the announcement of the overnight policy rate scheduled to be released by Bank Negara Malaysia later today.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.24 points to 1,679.88 from 1,677.64 at yesterday's close.
The index moved between 1,677.98 and 1,681.81 throughout the morning session.
Market breadth, however, was negative, with decliners outnumbering advancers 368 to 310 while 393 counters were unchanged, 777 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.37 billion shares worth RM721.76 million.
The FBM KLCI bucked the regional trend as the Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 0.24 per cent to 3,326.14, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.05 per cent to 21,524.55 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index eased 0.8 per cent to 28,106.22.
Among heavyweights, Maybank improved three sen to RM8.95, Maxis added three sen to RM5.63, Public Bank was two sen higher at RM23.00, while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.60 and Tenaga declined eight sen to RM13.74.
Of the actives, Ekovest and Focus Dynamics, inched up half-a-sen each to 81 sen and 27 sen respectively, while Barakah Offshore and SMTrack perked up one sen each to 6.5 sen and 23 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index rose 25.14 points to 11,892.55 and the FBMT 100 Index increased 24.34 points to 11,728.76.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 33.54 points better at 12,267.44, the FBM 70 advanced 66.26 points to 14,897.6 and the FBM Ace increased 35.59 points to 4,617.75.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 36.92 points to 16,793.58, the Plantation Index added 17.41 points to 6,962.58, while the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased 0.05 of-a-point to 162.00. ― Bernama
