.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, July 23 — Bursa Malaysia opened on a strong note today driven by lower liners and healthcare stocks as investors shifted their attention to small and medium cap stocks.
As at 9.04am, FBM Ace was up by 0.77 per cent while FBM MSCS climbed 1.2 per cent.
Healthcare counters continue its strong momentum spurred by pharmaceutical stocks as it recorded the largest value transacted of RM93.06 million.
The main index, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI), meanwhile, opened marginally higher at 0.35 of-a-point to 1,587.33 after opening slightly lower at 0.01 points at the opening bell.
Market breadth was positive with 260 gainers against 102 losers, while 280 counters were unchanged, 1,345 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 912.44 million units worth RM269.47 million.
An equity analyst said pharmaceutical stocks registered steady gain since yesterday backed by optimism about Covid-19 vaccine, pushing stocks related to the main pharma contractors up.
“Pharmaniaga, Duopharma, Kotra and Apex have seen strong performance and we expect the pharma counter will continue the momentum mirroring the earlier gains of the glove sector.
“However, as these players are local players; the movement would not be so steep like what happened to the glove sector,” she said.
As for small and mid-sized cap stocks, institutional investors are upbeat on the market performance and newcomers have seen positive gains since listing, she said.
Today's newbie in the ACE market, construction company TCS group has recorded a 152 per cent gain since the opening bell as it rose 35 sen to 58 sen.
On the KLCI performance, Malacca Security in its equity note today said with the lack of follow-through buying interest, the FBM KLCI will remain in a consolidation mode as the recent glove-induced rally might be taking a breather.
“At the same time, the lofty valuations might cap further gains at this current juncture. Nevertheless, the ample liquidity-driven market may continue to provide further trading opportunities as rotational plays dominate the current market scenario,” it said.
On the technical valuation, it said the uncertainty in recent days suggests that the consolidation may prolong with the resistance remain at 1,615, followed by 1,620.
The support is pegged at 1,560, followed by 1,530.
On the heavyweights, almost two-thirds of the index component was untraded, while TopGlove was up eight sen to RM24.78 and Public Bank was down eight sen to RM17.80.
On actives, positive trading was recorded in almost all sectors with XOX gaining one sen to 19.5 sen, Bioalpha was up seven sen to 25 sen and Boustead added half-a-sen to 82 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index edged up 15.33 points to 11,275.62, the FBMT 100 Index appreciated 10.62 points to 11,111.30 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 30.97 points stronger at 13,092.51.
The FBM 70 inched up 45.90 points to 14,202.98 and the FBM ACE was 59.46 points better at 7,733.50.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was down 14.78 points to 13,419.93, the Plantation Index strengthened 1.94 points to 7,034.33 and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.47 of-a-point to 140.34. — Bernama
