KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — Bursa Malaysia remained in the positive territory today, lifted by buying in selected heavyweights namely in utilities, finance and plantation-related counters.
Tenaga, Public Bank, CIMB and Sime Darby Plantation contributed 4.074 points to the composite index.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 0.82 points to 1,534.98 from Wednesday’s close of 1,534.16.
After opening 2.93 points higher at 1,537.10 this morning, the local index moved between 1,531.15 and 1,540.18 throughout the day.
However, on the scoreboard, losers beat gainers 436 to 405, while 410 counters were unchanged, 731 untraded and 40 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 2.96 billion shares worth RM2.27 billion from 2.54 billion shares worth RM1.95 billion recorded yesterday.
Interpac Asset Management economist Datuk Dr Nazri Khan said despite a slight increase in the local bourse, the equity market is still generally on a downtrend.
“Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, local investors are struggling to quantify the impact of the outbreak on the Chinese economy, which also impact the Malaysian economy.
“We believe that there is a spillover effect to the supply chain around the world , especially when China is a trade partner of Malaysia,” he told Bernama.
Nazri noted as the Chinese economic growth slowed, most of the stocks with exposure to the country like Apple and Intel also saw their revenue slid.
Meanwhile back home, he said, the sentiment is exacerbated by tomorrow’s Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting, which is expected to discuss various issues including on the transition of power among its leaders.
Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank added two sen to RM8.42, Tenaga and Public Bank increased 18 sen each to RM12.78 and RM18.12 respectively, while IHH slipped one sen to RM5.81.
Of the actives, Main-market debutante InNature rose 1.5 sen to 65.5 sen, Powerwell gained one sen to 37.5 sen while DGB Asia shed 1.5 sen to 5.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 3.34 points to 10,988.73, the FBMT 100 Index gained 1.76 points to 10,774.94 and the FBM Ace improved 39.69 points to 5,650.70.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 8.55 points to 11,706.82 and the FBM 70 dipped 14.20 points to 13,922.90.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.39 point to 146.82, the Financial Services Index improved 48.74 points to 14,700.12 but the Plantation Index shed 29.90 points to 7,150.32.
Main Market volume increased to 1.7 billion shares valued at RM1.99 billion from 1.46 billion shares valued at RM1.68 billion recorded on Wednesday.
Warrants turnover appreciated to 395.51 million units worth RM69.06 million versus 322.39 million units worth RM52.19 million.
Volume on the ACE Market advanced to 870.55 million shares valued at RM211.62 million compared with 764.70 million shares valued at RM217.32 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 430.45 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (183.51 million), construction (140.81 million), technology (202.41 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (39.67 million), property (90.85 million), plantations (27.93 million), REITs (12.59 million), closed/fund (3,000), energy (342.26 million), healthcare (55.45 million), telecommunications and media (93.91 million), transportation and logistics (45.81 million), and utilities (29.82 million). — Bernama
