KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — Gains mainly in IHH, Genting Bhd and MAHB lifted the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KCLI (FBM KLCI) to end the morning session 2.35 points better at 1,564.14.
The index opened 3.03 points weaker at 1,558.76 compared to yesterday’s close of 1,561.79.
Market breadth was slightly negative with losers outpacing gainers 334 to 297, while 370 counters were unchanged, 971 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.14 billion shares worth RM682.93 million.
An analyst said the market was seen improving after recording two straight days of losses.
“We see some bargain hunting in selected counters. However, cautious sentiment prevailed amid uncertainty ahead of the Dec 15 deadline for fresh US tariffs on Chinese imports,” he said.
In addition, he said investors were also looking ahead to the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy statement to be released later in the day, although the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged.
Among the heavyweights, IHH rose nine sen to RM5.34, Genting added seven sen to RM5.86 and MAHB was 16 sen stronger at RM8.22.
Press Metal and Public Bank rose six sen each to RM4.66 and RM19.02 respectively.
Of actives, AT Systematization and DGB were both flat at 5.0 sen and 14.5 sen, TDM added half-a-sen to 31. 5 sen and FGV increased 5.0 sen to RM1.47.
The FBM Emas Index increased 13.34 points to 11,124.07 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index put on 3.1 points to 11,708.20 while the FBMT 100 Index rose 13.38 points to 10,924.80.
The FBM Ace went up 36.22 points to 4,956.25 and the FBM 70 added 4.69 points to 13,892.40.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 31.16 points to 15,216.66, the Industrial Products and Services Index improved 0.27 of-a-point to 149.87 and the Plantation Index increased 11.55 points to 7,477.38. — Bernama
