KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia continued to rise riding on improved crude oil prices, which also influenced the prices of other commodities including crude palm oil.
The plantation index on the local bourse rose 1.87 per cent, with Sime Darby Plantation jumping 25 sen to RM4.70 while KLK gained 50 sen to RM20.80.
At 3.12pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 14.74 points to 1,445.58 from Tuesday’s close of 1,430.47.
At the opening bell, the benchmark index opened 0.88 point better at 1,431.35.
However, on the broader market, gainers beat losers 504 to 349, with 329 counters unchanged, 824 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 3.27 billion shares worth RM1.80 billion.
The newly-appointed Primary Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali today said Malaysia would strengthen its ties with India, particularly to boost palm oil exports.
He also said that the ministry would be sending a delegation to India as soon as possible to resolve the issue through negotiations.
“We will prepare a Cabinet paper, in which one of the proposals would be for the Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to make an official visit and rebuild our ties with India,” he said during his press conference today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added three sen to RM8.40, Tenaga widened 10 sen to RM12.60, IHH went up one sen to RM5.60 while Public Bank erased six sen to RM16.84.
Of the actives, Vortex fell one sen to six sen, Sapura Energy and Bumi Armada broadened one sen each to 12 sen adn 18.5 sen respectively, while Alam Maritim was flat at 6.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved 103.42 points to 10,089.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 176.05 points to 10,718.44 and the FBM 70 soared 148.12 points to 12,086.07.
The FBMT 100 Index was 103.43 points higher at 9,952.07 but the FBM Ace depreciated 76.75 points to 4,705.10.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index expanded 2.41 points to 122.57, the Plantation Index was 118.70 points higher at 6,428.31 but the Financial Services Index gave up 25.83 points to 13,941.45. — Bernama
