Gains in Top Glove push Bursa Malaysia higher at lunch break

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 ― Gains in Top Glove continued to support the key index on Bursa Malaysia to close the morning session on a firm note despite mixed regional peers.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 3.94 points to 1,626.83 after moving between 1,624.95 and 1,631.72 throughout the session.

Top Glove was the biggest gainer among the index-linked counters, contributing substantial 5.248 points to the rise in the composite index.

The rubber glove maker, which is expected to announce its quarterly results tomorrow, increased 33 sen to RM6.93 with 42.27 million shares changing hands.

On the broader market, gainers and losers were almost equal at 552 to 588, while 430 counters were unchanged, 553 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Volume stood at 6.76 billion units worth RM3.5 billion.

A dealers said sentiment in the market was influenced by the mixed overnight Wall Street performance, concerned over rising Covid-19 cases, the United States stimulus negotiations, and Brexit talks between the United Kingdom and European Union.

Among the heavyweights, Hartalega rose 14 sen to RM14.58, and IHH Healthcare perked two sen to RM5.52.

Maybank and Tenaga eased two sen each to RM8.25 and RM10.88, respectively, Public Bank lost 26 sen to RM18.34, and Petronas Chemicals trimmed four sen to RM7.56.

Among the actives, P.A. Resources and Inix were flat at 18 sen and 50 sen, respectively, while Metronic slipped one sen to 12 sen, Yong Tai shed 2.5 sen to 36 sen, and Bintai erased 24 sen to RM1.15.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 36.52 points to 11,798.85, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 35.76 points to 11,550.77 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 80.87 points to 13,576.45.

The FBM 70 soared 77.75 points to 15,408.7 and the FBM ACE improved 18.25 points to 10,665.41.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.71 of-a-point to 174.81, the Financial Services Index fell 64.68 points to 14,563.7, but the Plantation Index bagged 8.61 points to 7,365.33. ― Bernama