.JPG "An investor monitors the stock prices in the gallery of the RHB Investment Bank Bhd headquarters in Kuala Lumpur March 17, 2020. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher supported by positive market sentiment due to opportunities in the market particularly in the oil and gas counters, according to an analyst.
At 12.30pm, key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.66 points, or 0.35 per cent to 1,335.31 from 1,330.65 at Friday’s close.
The key index opened 1.96 points firmer at 1,332.61 and moved between 1,324.43 and 1,335.77 throughout the morning session.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 512 to 207, while 300 counters were unchanged, 902 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.83 billion shares worth RM1.13 billion.
Bank Islam chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said talks of a possible cut in oil supply output among major producers, the US, Saudi Arabia and Russia may have sparked some interest in the sector.
“Similarly, the technology sector whereby we could see the Global Semiconductor Sales have recorded five per cent growth in February after experiencing more than a year contraction.
“Although this can still be tentative as the impact from Covid-19 is likely to be very severe, there are always the opportunity to trade,” he told Bernama.
He noted that savvy traders would take a very short term view to take advantage of the situation.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank jumped 23 sen to RM7.63, Public Bank soared 18 sen to RM15.88, Axiata and Genting Malaysia added four sen each to RM3.24 and RM2.07 respectively.
Top gainers included Dutch Lady, which rose 98 sen to RM43.98, Panasonic improved 70 sen to RM27.00 and United Plantation was 24 sen higher at RM24.94.
The most active counters continued to be dominated by oil and gas- linked stocks with Hibiscus climbed four sen to 49 sen and Sapura Energy inched up one sen to 10.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index edged up 52.05 points to 9,227.43, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 21.47 points to 10,082.92 while the FBMT 100 Index improved 43.60 points to 9,132.25.
The FBM 70 soared 100.31 points to 10,810.37 and the FBM Ace added 75.42 points to 3,892.73.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.38 of-a-point to 105.62, the Financial Services Index advanced 153.29 points to 12,205.28 but the Plantation Index went down 48.24 points to 6,091.40. — Bernama
