KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Bursa Malaysia bucked the regional trend to open higher today, as bargain hunters made a comeback for rubber glove-linked stocks led by Top Glove and Hartalega after both counters succumbed to profit-taking last Friday.
At 9.05am, market benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.59 points, or 0.29 per cent to 1,594.20 from 1,589.61 at the close last Friday.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbering losers 305 to 168, while 290 counters were unchanged, 1,246 untraded and 28 others suspended.
Volume stood at 646.61 million units worth RM330.83 million.
Gains by heavyweights were led by Top Glove which rose 46 sen to RM25.90 and Hartalega which added 14 sen to RM17.82. Both counters were also among the top gainers on the local bourse.
Maxis advanced five sen to RM5.30, Tenaga accumulated eight sen to RM11.32 and Petronas Dagangan was 10 sen better at RM20.72.
Top gainers were dominated by glove-linked counters that included Kossan, bagging 46 sen to RM14.26, Careplus perked 41 sen to RM2.87, Comfort was 17 sen firmer at RM4.37, Supermax strengthened 16 sen to RM17.30 and Rubberex increased 13 sen to RM3.71.
On actives, Nexgram ticked up half-a-sen to six sen, Jadi, Securemetic and Iris gained one sen each to 10.5 sen, 13.5 sen and 30.5 sen respectively while Eduspec and Pegasus were unchanged at five sen and 2.5 sen respectively.
Despite the gains seen on the local exchange today, trading sentiment remained cautious following the rising tensions between the United States and China.
In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it reckoned the weakness could prolong on the local bourse as investors turned wary particularly after the recent upswing.
“As it is, the negative market breadth also suggests that gains could be choppy over the near term,” it said.
Technically, the brokerage firm expects the FBM KLCI to remain within the consolidation band, with immediate resistance located at 1,615, followed by 1,630, while supports are pegged at 1,560, followed by 1,530.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 37.58 points to 11,309.76, the FBMT 100 Index appreciated 33.39 points to 11,147.44 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 72.36 points firmer at 13,170.41.
The FBM 70 perked 47.60 points to 14,201.89 and the FBM ACE was 103.14 points higher at 8,001.20.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was down 5.85 points to 13,411.78, the Plantation Index strengthened 21.94 points to 7,136.97 and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.59 of-a-point to 140.24. — Bernama
