Bursa Malaysia higher at lunch break, led by buying in Ace Market

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 ― Bursa Malaysia was higher at lunch break today, buoyed by persistent buying in the Ace Market index, including technology counters.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 2.54 points or 0.167 per cent to 1,527.75 from Friday's close of 1,525.21.

The barometer index opened 16.34 points higher at 1,541.55 and moved between 1,522.34 and 1,541.99 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, however, losers were slightly higher than gainers at 568 to 519, while 362 counters were unchanged, 557 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Trading volume stood at 6.36 billion shares worth RM3 billion.

Among the actives, Nova rose 1.5 sen to 11 sen, XOX inched up half-a-sen to 26.5 sen, MQ Technology added six sen to 23 sen while Lambo was flat at 5.5 sen.

Of the top losers, plantation company KLK lost 34 sen to RM22.32, Public Bank shed 30 sen to RM16.12, Nestle declined 20 sen to RM139.00 and Petronas Dagangan was 18 sen weaker at RM20.42.

Technology-linked counter Malaysia Pacific Industries emerged as the top gainer, adding RM1.14 to RM16.84 followed by Hong Leong Bank, which improved 68 sen to RM14.68, while F&N was 62 sen better at RM31.24.

The rally seen on the tech-linked counters on the Ace Market was due to the traction in US high-flying tech shares.

Among others, Apple and Tesla saw both their stocks split on Monday, setting new record highs.

“The other tech stocks that also helped boost the market sentiment even in the local bourse also include Amazon, Facebook and Netflix,” according to an analyst.

International traders so far have been encouraged by the US Federal Reserve that continues to  encourage risk appetite, while the Covid-19 outbreak is slowly showing signs of tapering off with the race for a vaccine giving the market signs of hope.

Meanwhile back home, IHS Markit said Malaysia’s manufacturing production stabilised in August, sustaining the recovery from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) downturn.

The headline IHS Markit Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index ― a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance ― dipped to 49.3 in August from 50.0 in July.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank shed 10 sen to RM7.23, Public Bank lost 30 sen to RM16.12, while Top Glove increased 36 sen to RM26.64 and Tenaga was 14 sen higher at RM11.00.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 23.15 points to 11,108.73, the FBMT 100 Index was 20.45 points stronger at 10,907.20 but the FBM 70 appreciated 36.73 points to 14,784.12.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index strengthened 6.10 points to 13,232.75 and the FBM ACE soared 228.47 points to 11,207.74.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index declined 44.51 points to 12,598.26, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.50 point to 137.00 but the Plantation Index eased 21.44 points to 7,035.84. ― Bernama