.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, Oct 19 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session on a positive note, tracking the positive sentiment in regional markets.
Gains were mostly seen among the Industrial Product and Services index constituents, as well as healthcare counters.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.36 points, or 0.62 per cent to 1,513.20 from 1,503.84 at Friday’s close.
The market barometer opened 3.37 points higher at 1,507.21 and moved between 1,505.92 and 1,514.98 throughout the morning trading session.
Market breadth remained positive, with gainers surpassing losers 621 to 374, while 420 counters were unchanged, 736 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 5.64 billion units worth RM2.95 billion.
A dealer said that most of the Asian stock markets were on the uptrend despite the mixed cues from the Wall Street’s performance last week.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 12.91 points to 2,545.93, Japan’s Nikkei jumped 253.62 points to 23,664.25, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged 228.29 points to 24,386.79.
“Data shows that China’s economy continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact; and renewed optimism about the possibilities of a United States (US) stimulus package before the presidential elections in November boosted investor sentiment,” the dealer said.
In a note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said the FBM KLCI is expected to trend higher, trading within the 1,510-1,515 range today, with liquidity expected to continue pouring into the penny stocks.
“With the US futures trending higher at the moment, we reckon regional markets will follow suit and improve today.
“Locally, we expect a rebound is in store following the rather weak showing last week,” it said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM7.16, Top Glove went up 31 sen to RM9.56, Hartalega climbed 40 sen to RM18.78, TNB improved two sen to RM10.02, while Public Bank declined six sen to RM15.80.
Of the actives, Lambo earned half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, MLabs advanced one sen to four sen, Luster Industries increased 2.5 sen to 20 sen while Mah Sing perked 19.5 sen to RM1.14.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 67.51 points to 11,005.58, the FBM Emas Shariah Index surged 109.67 points to 13,250.28, while the FBMT 100 Index went up 60.14 points to 10,800.36.
The FBM 70 bagged 55.66 points to 14,627.37 and the FBM ACE rose 49.79 points to 11,021.67.
The Financial Services Index slipped 6.24 points to 12,403.43, the Plantation Index increased 30.88 points to 6,889.39 and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 2.49 points to 146.09. — Bernama
