KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Trading on Bursa Malaysia remained mixed at mid-day as the benchmark index inched closer to positive territory while market breadth stayed in red.
At 3.05pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.28 points higher at 1,604.75, compared with yesterday’s close of 1,602.47.
It opened 6.70 points lower at 1,595.77.
On the broader market, the gap between losers and gainers had shrunk, at 376 to 317 respectively, while 369 counters remained unchanged, 896 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.20 billion units worth RM869.82 million.
According to an analyst, the market showed signs of recovery but still adopted a cautious tone as it awaited the outcome of the G7 meeting this weekend in France and US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell’s speech at the annual Jackson Hole symposium starting later today.
“As of now, we can only see institutional support on selected heavyweights. It is a positive note, but it would not be enough to push the index above 1,605.0 for now,” he said.
Maybank, RHB, Petronas Chemical and Digi all added one sen to RM8.57, RM5.53, RM7.12 and RM5.01 respectively while IHH gained 10 sen to RM5.77.
As for the actives, Vsolar was flat at 13.5 sen, Green Packet was 4.5 sen higher at 65 sen while its warrant added one sen to 18.5, and both Istone and ARB strengthened 1.5 sen to 17.5 sen and 37 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 21.10 points to 11,891.06 points, the FBM Emas Index gained 11.54 points to 11,350.33, and the FBMT 100 Index advanced 8.47 points to 11,182.96 while the FBM Ace lost 40.48 points to 4,603.16 and the FBM 70 was 19.75 points lower at 14,116.20.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index recovered 6.75 points to 15,594.86, the Industrial Products and Services Index was marginally lower by 0.19 point at 150.20 and the Plantation Index appreciated 17.23 points to 6,789.88. — Bernama
