KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — The higher share prices of plantation counters, namely IOI and KLK, helped push Bursa Malaysia to end mid-day trading higher, although some regional peers experienced a slowdown amid the uncertainty on global markets.

The local bourse opened slightly higher before turning red due to profit-taking.

Leading plantation companies IOI Corporation and KLK saw share prices rise by four sen to RM4.44 and 16 sen to RM22.36 respectively.

At 12.31pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KCLI (FBM KLCI) gained 2.83 points to 1,610.98 against Monday’s close of 1,608.15, while moving between 1,605.71 to 1,612.75.

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It opened 4.03 points higher at 1,61218.

On the broader market, gainers beat losers slightly at 345 to 333, with 388 counters unchanged, 927 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.34 billion shares worth RM729.96 million.

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“ The palm oil inventory for October unexpectedly shrank 4.1 per cent month-on-month to 2.3 million metric tonnes, as production started seeing a decline after peaking in September, while exports saw a strong recovery,” Public Investment Bank said in its note today.

This clearly benefited the shares of plantation companies on Bursa Malaysia.

Public Investment Bank was also optimistic over the outlook for CPO prices and also foresaw exciting fourth quarter 2019 results for plantation companies.

“We think the 4Q19 results could be one of the strongest quarterly results seen since 2017. Small-mid cap plantation stocks remain our favourite, especially Sarawak Plantation and Ta Ann, as valuations remain attractive at current levels,” it said.

Meanwhile, on a broader perspective, market players are likely to focus on local key economic data to be released this week, including Bank Negara Malaysia’s third quarter results.

On the external front, sentiment is still cautious amid uncertainty over the US-China trade talks and the domestic political situation in Hong Kong.

As for heavyweights, Maybank eased seven sen to RM8.78, CIMB slipped four sen to RM5.32, Hong Leong declined 14 sen to RM17.06, while Malaysia Airports was 16 sen lower at RM8.19.

Of the actives, Sapura Energy and DGB Asia rose half-a-sen yo 29.5 sen and 17.5 sen respectively, Bumi Armada added 1.5 sen to 49.5 sen and AirAsia X was one sen better at 17.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index gained 15.90 points to 11,405.89, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 15.66 points to 11,220.67 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 53.18 points to 11,938.45.

The FBM Ace inched up 1.39 points to 4,886.05 and the FBM 70 was three points better at 14,140.03.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 53.21 points to 15,724.18, but the Industrial Products & Services Index edged up 0.06 of-a-point to 155.51 and the Plantation Index rose 45.32 points to 6,913.52. — Bernama