KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 ― Shares on Bursa Malaysia were mixed at the opening, amid the cautious underlying market environment weighed down by fresh geopolitical concerns in the Middle East.
At 9am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 1.76 points to 1,656.43 after closing at 1658.19 on Friday.
It opened 0.09 point higher at 1,658.28.
Market breadth was positive with 109 gainers to 45 losers, while 165 counters were unchanged, 1,570 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 72.71 million units worth RM16.19 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the index was slightly lower on mild profit-taking activities following the recent gains made on Friday.
“While we think that the key index could build on last Friday’s gains to further its recovery, the outlook is still indifferent and we also think that further upsides will be limited amid the still cautious underlying market environment,” it said in a statement.
On the upside, the research house sees resistance at the 1,660 and 1,667 levels, while the main support is still at the psychological 1,650 level, followed by the 1,644 level.
Among top gainers among heavyweights were Maybank and PetChem which rose one sen each to RM8.88 and RM7.82 respectively, while Public Bank was flat at RM22.88.
Of the gainers, Malaysian Pacific soared 17 sen to RM9.47, Malaysia Airports added seven sen to RM8.67 and Gamuda was four sen better at RM3.93.
The FBM Emas Index bagged 2.35 points to 11,792.57 and the FBMT 100 Index fell 7.40 points to 11,608.85.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 2.04 points up at 12,166.90, the FBM 70 gained 10.62 points to 14,923.65 and the FBM Ace increased 51.19 points to 4,726.16.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index erased 5.07 points to 16,590.81, the Plantation Index lost 13.03 points to 6,800.97 but the Industrial Products & Services Index was up by 0.16 point to 156.97.
Gardening supplier Baba Eco Group Bhd made a debut on the LEAP Market of Bursa Malaysia today at 16 sen per share, up three sen over its offer price with 110,000 shares transacted. ― Bernama
